Timeshift
by waffleman1314
Summary: Perry Flynn was responsible for his own murder. Most everyone believed it to be suicide. But that wasn't even the point really. The point was that he lived on in the realm of the dead, and there, yes, there, he had a chance of setting things right, even when faced with larger than life opposition. (Sequel to Resolution.)
1. One Mourning

**Well, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that book six of The Legacy Series (Resolution) came across as wildly unpopular after certain events within. I can't fix that, but I can only hope that some of you will continue reading past its depressing events. So, I wish to persevere and post for you the first chapter of book seven. For those that haven't left, please enjoy. -AJ ThaPlatypus**

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Xhirxhti

The weather outside was blustery. Yes, that was a good way to describe it. A strong wind blew from the north, grey clouds covered the sky, and shadows seemed to be present everywhere Xhirxhti Flynn turned her eyes. Not a drop of rain fell from the sky, though, and for this, she was thankful. She couldn't bear another unhappy occurrence; not this month. Her mind kept taking her back to a fight she'd had with her mother, Arven, the queen of Amoyx, the mighty nation of Kyea. It rang in her ears like a gong.

_"You disagree with my choice of a husband because you cannot see any likeness between myself and Perry. You see him as nothing more than dirt. I can assure you, just because he is another race does not mean he is not equal to us." _

_"He's a mortal creature, Lexolav! Immortals and mortals cannot be together! He will die and you will live on! Do you learn nothing from those peasants?" _

_"He will not die!" _

_"You speak as a fool would."_

_"I know he will not die. For as long as we've been husband and wife, I have been slowly adjusting his mortality. He should have been dead years ago. You cannot reverse what my powers have done, I am preserving him and creating immortality within him." _

_"What?! Do you not know what that will do to him?! Lexolav, child, you will most certainly kill him! Sooner or later, you will see scars; scars that form the shapes of swirling lines. It will appear as if someone had taken a knife and drawn intricate swirls on his chest for a design piece. Your blood will corrode his skin; it will not save him from death. He will experience extreme pain, and you, my daughter, will experience great loss." _

_"You lie! He will live! You shall see!" _

_"Foolish child! Your love blinds you! This is why the Kyea do not permit such foolish things as love. He will die, whether by this curse you have placed upon him or by the hands of Eclipse herself." _

_"Eclipse cannot and will not kill him. You know this. You know this better than I do." _

_"What about himself? You cannot save him from himself. Imagine if he were to do the deed. There's no stopping that." _

_"Perry would never!" _

And yet, Perry had. Perry Flynn, the platypus, the Korobu-chisai with whom she'd had thirty-five children with. Perry Flynn who had been by her side through thick and thin. Perry Flynn who'd said he loved her so much he'd die for her. Where was that Perry now? She choked on a sob and looked down on the glass coffin she kept in her room. Aye, there he was. His body, at least. Kyea tradition told her to preserve the body of her husband until she died or he returned from Rakuen, the Vault of Souls. Xhirxhti knew neither was likely; Perry had been a Korobu-chisai in life.

Rakuen was a place where souls went after death, but only the souls hand-picked by the Spectre, Rakuen's denizens, to live on in their realm until the end of time as soldiers who were ready when called. There was that, and the other ticket out of Rakuen, which was to endure some kind of contest that Xhirxhti couldn't quite remember the details of in the midst of her broken-heartedness.

She inched towards the coffin her mate's body was encased in and pressed one pale hand up against the glass cover. The intricate designs that her mother had mentioned were on his skin; she'd never seen it before. No, she hadn't seen it until the night she'd ran upstairs to ask him what clatter he was making. It was then that she saw him; the swirling lines on his chest, the dagger, with its ebony handle and scarlet teardrops, extruding from his heart, the waterfall of blood spilling out over his body as if it were desperately trying to escape him, and his lack of apology for taking his own life.

"Why did you leave me?" Xhirxhti whispered.

At an age she'd never reveal to anyone, Xhirxhti was the epitome of Kyea beauty. She stood at a breathtaking eight feet plus; pure white hair fell down straight to her ankles and was bound in cloth wrappings at her temples. Her eyes were the color of emeralds, and her skin was paler than paper. On a normal day, her cheeks would have been a light shade of rose, but since Perry's death, they'd gone pallid. A black dress, quite similar to a Japanese kimono, covered everything save for her face as she stared down at Perry's lifeless form.

"Come back to me…" Xhirxhti pleaded to his unmoving corpse. Her mind again wandered to a past event, even more recent than the first. Perry's boss, Major Monogram of the Organization Without a Cool Acronym, had been examining Perry's death with a few other secret agents.

_"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Flynn," he'd told her, keeping his eyes glued to the pad of paper a raccoon agent was scribbling notes down on. "Can you think of anything, anything at all, that would have led him to commit suicide?" _

_"Must you use that dreadful word?" Xhirxhti murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "And why must you assume it was him who killed himself?" _

_"Mrs, Flynn, facts are facts," the Major told her gruffly, looking at the bloodied, stiff body of his former agent. "All signs point to suicide. He was in the room alone. The knife only has Agent P's fingerprints on it. So, I'm going to ask you again. Can you think of any reasons he might of done this?" _

_"No!" Xhirxhti cried. Jamie, her firstborn daughter, grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back. She went to say something to the girl, but Jamie hushed her in Kyeaclae and turned to the Major. _

_"I believe I'm to blame for this," Jamie said quietly. "Nothing else needs to be said. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really do need to attend to my newborn." _

_"Well, I'll file him as a suicide and be done with this," the Major sighed. The raccoon agent seemed to snicker at this. Xhirxhti remembered then that this was Ricky, or Agent R; Perry's sole rival in the spy business. Not to mention the one who trained him. Monogram offered to take the body and cremate it, but Xhirxhti was adamant- she would keep the body, just as any respectable Kyea woman would. The only true condolence she received that day was from Terry, a turtle agent who Perry had called his best friend. _

_"Xhirxhti Flynn," he said meekly, removing his fedora and holding it to his heart. "I-I just want you to know that if you ever need anything- anything at all- I'll give it to you or help you with it. I'm truly sorry for your loss; I know you two loved each other more than anything else in the world." _

The turtle's words seemed biting to her now. If Perry had truly loved her, wouldn't he have stopped himself from piercing open his heart with a dagger? It didn't make sense. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Perry had actually committed suicide. Her mind kept wandering to what he'd told her some time ago, not too distant from his death.

_"That's just it, Xhirxhti. I am Semi. And he is me." _

That was what she clung to. There was always the hope that Perry had been right about Semi. If he was Semi, and, as he'd claimed many times, he could interact with Semi as if he were another being entirely, then it had been Semi, not Perry, who'd killed her mate. She felt her hand tighten into a fist upon the glass.

"Mother."

Xhirxhti swung around quickly, her dress swooshing about her thighs in attempt to follow her curt motion. Jamie was standing in the doorway to Xhirxhti's bedroom, holding her six week old daughter, Lexi, on her right hip. A pang of jealousy rose in Xhirxhti's chest every time she saw the child. Due to an unfortunate happening that was practically unmentionable, Perry had fathered Lexi. His death was the same night as her birth.

Jamie herself posed no threat. The girl, just like all of her other siblings, favored her father in looks; she was, in stature, a platypus, through and through. No one could see the Kyea in her whatsoever, and it was hard-pressed to see her rare genetic mishap- two fangs that retracted into her upper jaw that were used for drinking blood and injecting venom. She was, after all, a Lesser Vampri. Still, her only differences from her father were the longer eyelashes she had and she was two inches shy of his height. Besides that, she had three long scars running across her belly from her first pregnancy and her abdomen was still slightly swollen from carrying Lexi.

"What is it that you want, Jamie?" Xhirxhti asked, her voice choked with hurt and her stance stiffened. Her daughter shifted in place a little, most likely nervous to disturb her mother's sorrow.

"I was wondering if you'd _ever_ hold a funeral for him," Jamie said softly, nodding her head at Perry's coffin. A grimace crossed the girl's face; Xhirxhti could tell that looking at her lifeless father disturbed her, just as it disturbed everyone else in this house. She couldn't expect humans or Hidari to understand the way of the Kyea.

"When the child has come on three months of age, Jamie, _then_, and only then, will I hold a proper funeral for your father," she told her, turning back to the corpse of her beloved and lowering her head. "The Kyea people do not celebrate life and mourn over death any more than three months apart."

"Why do you cling to that lifestyle?" Jamie asked with disgust. "They shunned you, for Cressella's sake, you can act as if you belong on Earth now."

"Your suggestion, though of good intentions, is poison to my very ears," Xhirxhti hissed lightly. She could feel her daughter tense up, even though they were many, many paces apart. "Remember, daughter, that I am no rebel; no infidel. I hold up and respect my people's acts and beliefs."

"Then I suppose that explains the self-harm," her daughter nodded towards Xhirxhti's arm, pointing out the parallel scars running up and down her arm. Jamie's tone then turned like ice when she spoke again. "For one who feels like blood defiles someone, you sure are spilling a lot of your own."

"How dare you!" Xhirxhti spun around and hurried towards her daughter. "If you weren't holding a sleeping child in your arms, I would be in my right mind to bring my right hand across your left cheek! You, of all people, Jamie Marie Flynn, cannot speak of others in such a manner pertaining to blood! You, who, for six months, drank nothing but blood!"

"I did it in effort to keep my baby alive!" Jamie spat. She clutched her daughter closer to her body. The burning sensation of jealousy flared up inside of Xhirxhti's chest. Jamie saw her mother's change in emotion. "Certainly, you don't wish Lexi…dead?"

"At times," Xhirxhti admitted through closed teeth. Jamie pressed the baby to her breast and took a deep breath.

"As much shame as she brings to me, and to you and Matthew, I could never bring myself to allow my own child to die," Jamie said meekly, her voice low and full of embarrassment. Matthew was her mate and cloned brother, who'd had to watch as she'd given birth to three children who weren't his own. The first two, a set of twins, were fathered by a cruel Muzukashii by the name of Chaz Whitehead; in other words, their father was a werewolf. The third, of course, was Lexi. Their shared child, Omega, was, by definition, an Anhtraiemgai. He was a direct result of their, at the time, unknown share of DNA. The only one of his kind, he was born fully grown and talking as a mad philosopher, despite his intellect.

"Shame?" Xhirxhti said, trying to suppress her cruel need to laugh. "Since when did you care about shame, Jamie?"

"Since my mother began to give me looks of contempt after the death of my father," Jamie said curtly. She turned and left the room, leaving Xhirxhti by herself in the empty presence of her dead husband. Jamie was right. By her own selfish manner, Xhirxhti was using Perry's death as a medium to transfer others into her hurt state. It wasn't that she meant to, it was just that she was so wrapped up in her own sorrows that she failed to see the pain in others.

Tears began to flood over her pale cheeks, running down them and onto her thin neck. Why did she, the heir to the throne of Amoyx, deserve any of this? She'd foolishly followed a forbidden thing; love. Now look where it had her. In her pain, she now saw why the Kyea had outlawed love. It was magnificent at first, but when someone took away what one loved most, the pain was a sharp knife, cutting and biting at the soul.

Xhirxhti pulled the top off of Perry's coffin and set it on the floor. She then threw her body across him, transforming into the same form she'd been Xee-Xee'd as many, many years ago; a platypus. Fits of sobbing shook her body as she lay across her dead mate, feeling his cold hands, tracing the swirling scars on his chest, and wishing that this were all just a nightmare that she'd wake up to. She lifted his head to her breast and closed her eyes tightly as she tried to stop the flow of tears.

"Wake up," she cried, her voice choked with sorrow and her throat full of sobs. "Why aren't you just sleeping? Wake up…"

She pressed his forehead to hers and began to mutter to his lifeless form in Kyeaclae. It was worthless, in all truth. There were many things the mighty Kyea could do, and their power was practically a vault of unending possibility. However, there has always been one thing, and one thing only, that a Kyea could not do, not even with powers unimaginable.

They could not bring back the dead.

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**Next Chapter is...it's a surprise:P **

**I'm tiring of asking questions. SO, I'm going to leave you with a statement. Don't be hasty.**


	2. Between Death and Life

**I have chapter two for you! Finally! -AJ **

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Perry

Black.

Then White.

Now back to black.

Flashing. That was all that there was here. Flashing. Were his eyes open? Were they closed? He knew not. The flashing persisted. Black, white, black, white. A light, perhaps? It took him a while to realize what was going on. This was real, but it wasn't. All he knew was one thing for sure.

He, Perry Flynn, was dead.

Sitting up, Perry looked around. Well, he assumed he was looking around. The flashing, whatever it had been, had stopped, and he was now in total darkness. He felt around with his hands. Under him, there was some kind of hard, smooth material. It was slightly cold to the touch. Pressing up against it, Perry shifted his weight to his back feet and tried to stand. A wave of unease washed over his…did he actually have a body, now that he thought about it?

Perry ran his hands along his various limbs and down his sides. He seemed in one piece. If only he could see, then he could know for sure what was going on. Taking a deep breath, if it could really be called that, Perry stepped forward and felt around for a wall. He bumped into a surface that felt the same as the floor. Confused, he groped around for some sort of difference. Was this a coffin? Perry threw his hands up, but didn't feel anything above his head. No, it wasn't a coffin, then.

Something grabbed him by the wrist. His first instinct was to pull away, which ultimately failed, as whatever was holding onto him had a death grip on his wrist. There was no pulling back, now. Perry reached over with his other hand and tried to pry it off. Another something came over and slapped his free hand.

"Trust me, you idiot!" a voice hissed.

Words caught in Perry's throat. There were so many questions he wanted to have answered, but he couldn't seem to find the ability to speak. His mouth was filled with the dryness of sand. The thing that was holding his arm drew him along in the darkness. It wasn't long before they stopped.

"You will wait here," it said. It let go of his wrist and supposedly left. Perry tried to put some sort of identification of the voice together. It wasn't a familiar voice, that much he knew. As to whether it was male or female, he was truly clueless. Maybe, just maybe, this was all a dream. He would wake up and be cuddled up next to Xhirxhti. Reaching for his left shoulder, he took a fold of his skin between his fingers and pinched himself.

"Ow!" Perry exclaimed. His voice echoed throughout the area. This greatly intrigued Perry. Every step that he'd taken had been soundless, but the sound of his voice reverberated around him like an ongoing bell. He covered his ears and tried to think logically of it all. The presence came back and grabbed his wrist once more.

"Follow me, now," it ordered. Perry would have asked why, but he had no choice. Whatever it was, it led him on for several minutes, if time was actually passing, and eventually led him towards a light. As they walked towards it, the light grew larger and larger. A door! Perry's heart gave an involuntary leap. If it was working at all, that is. They continued to walk along until they reached the edge of the door. Perry turned his head to see his mysterious leader. Once glimpse of it, and Perry thought he would faint on the spot. It looked like a cloud, a blue cloud, of smoke with holes for eyes and a mouth. The creature frowned and shoved Perry forward. "Get in there!"

When Perry's eyes adjusted to the light, he was able to see that he was, in fact, in a room of sorts. Everything in the room appeared to be made of marble, save for the creatures that sat in it. It was a octagonally shaped room that stacked up in seats around the small floor in the middle that he was standing on. At the top of the room, there was a small window from which light was pouring through. Someone, or something, cleared their throat, and Perry turned around quickly to see that there was a tall desk in the room as well. Behind it sat one of the creatures.

"Mr. Perry Bartholomew Flynn, is it?" it asked him. Perry nodded. "Good, good, we often have issues with Vide and who he brings into this room."

"Vide?" Perry blinked. The creature nodded.

"He's the one who brought you in here, Mr. Flynn," it informed him. Perry cast a glance at the doorway, but the creature called Vide was gone. "Don't bother yourself with him, he's nothing of interest to you."

"If you insist," Perry frowned. "I was wondering, perhaps, if you could explain to me what's going on here?"

"Perry Flynn," the creature said, its voice booming, but its expression subtle. "You've committed suicide, and now you are standing before the Court of the Brethren. We are the Spectre in charge of determining whether to keep your entity in the between-life or send it on to peace until the End of Time, when the dead at peace and the dead at unrest shall all join together and be either accepted into afterlife or condemned to eternal death."

"I did _not_ kill myself," Perry growled.

"Do not make it a habit of yourself to speak out of turn, Mr. Flynn," the creature, which Perry now knew to be a Spectre, said curtly, narrowing its "eyes" at Perry as best it could. "I, Sansvie, will talk, the Brethren will talk, and you will only speak when requested. Understood?"

Perry nodded.

"Good, good," Sansvie smiled. He, as Perry assumed brethren to mean that all present were males, turned a few pages in a book that was sitting in front of him. "In life, Perry Flynn was many things. He was a loyal husband and father. He was something of a rebel towards both Cressella and Eclipse, the leaders of the two Great Alliances. Yet, he struggled with a half-life that lived within his body, a life that wished to do the bidding of Eclipse and had a bloodthirst stronger than a Vampri's. This is who we have before us today, gentlemen. Would anyone like to begin the evaluation?"

The room fell silent once more. Perry was as lost as he could be. In his mind, the only people who ever got to see the Spectre were Hej-wielding beings. It had never occurred to him that anyone could be seen in these courts. One of the Spectre raised his hand. Perry found himself blinking; they had hands.

"Yes, Coeurdemort?" Sansvie said, straightening up a little.

"That's odd…" Perry breathed. He reviewed the three names that had mentioned already. Every single one was French for something. Vide's name meant empty. Sansvie's meant without life. This final character, well, his meant heart of death.

"I for one disagree with our prior discussion to attempt and let him into the Vault of Souls," Coeurdemort put out. "He was a Korobu-chisai in life. To this very day, we've let only two mortals into Rakuen's gates. Neither of them can escape or be of any use to the Sisters."

"You are wrong in that, Coeurdemort!" another threw out.

"Oh, is that so?" Coeurdemort growled. He squinted at the one who'd called him out. "And I don't suppose you have a good reason, now do you, Epaisseur?"

Pitch darkness.

"Oh, quite the contrary, dear friend!" Epaisseur countered. "Perry Flynn is the strongest mortal I've ever observed. He's withstood several Vampri bites, been shot and cut to near death, and is a master of escape at times. There are few mortals deserving of our between life, and I count Perry Flynn as one of them."

"Ah, but Coeurdemort is right, in a respect," yet another joined in. "Perry Flynn could never touch the Timeshift with his smallest finger! Epaisseur, think, he'd be completely on his own in Rakuen."

"You _would_ say that, wouldn't you, Sanscorps?" Epaisseur grunted.

Without body.

"Gentlemen, please," Sansvie interrupted. He brought a quiet over the four arguing Spectre. "It would be wise of you to ask of the dead to see what he thinks of your ideas."

"Very well," Coeurdemort grumbled. He disappeared and reappeared next to Perry, looming over him a little. "What say you to my input?"

"Well," Perry swallowed. "I'm not even certain I know much of Rakuen in the first place. I will admit, though, I was expecting to be fully dead, not in this court. I did not know that you accepted mortals such as myself."

"I've petitioned for years not to even consider them," Coeurdemort sighed, beginning to pace around Perry. "Do you disagree with your selection, mortal? Would you prefer to move on to the afterlife or eternal death?"

"I…I don't think I'm the one to make that decision…" Perry whispered. The Spectre huffed and reappeared at his seat.

"Don't expect any good answers from _this_ one," Coeurdemort growled. He rapped his hand on the desk a few times and sighed loudly. "He barely knows what this room is."

"Perhaps one should take another approach," Epaisseur raised his brow. He then appeared down near Perry and smiled gently. "Forgive me, honored Korobu-chisai, for his rudeness. These hearings aren't to judge, just to evaluate."

"Well, that's slightly reassuring," Perry mumbled.

"Now, I'm sticking up for you, so please don't plead to be sent to afterlife, okay?" Epaisseur nodded a little. Perry nodded back. The Spectre seemed pleased with this agreement. He turned to Sansvie and cleared his throat. "If you will allow me to speak long, I have much to say."

"You know good and well that in Rakuen, time is never an issue," Sansvie said gravely. "Speak as long as you wish to permit yourself, without interruption."

"Thank you," Epaisseur dipped his head. He turned to the rest of the court and lifted his head high. "My fellow Brethren, I know you all know why we have chosen to submit this mortal for our evaluation. Coeurdemort, Sanscorps, do neither of you realize the value of his entry to the Vault of Souls? For reasons I cannot reveal to you in this courtroom, Perry Flynn must be permitted to go on to the middle world. Imagine if you were in his place, knowing what we know. If we tell him to pass on and rest at peace until the End of Time, we are leaving our Shujinko without a sliver of hope. Yes, it is true that the Spectre choose no sides, but it has come to our attention that this can no longer be the case."

"What means you?" Sanscorps called out. "Neither Eclipse nor Cressella give a care to us here!"

"If Eclipse takes over the Alterverse, dear friend, she will assume that she is the rightful ruler of Rakuen!" Epaisseur cried. It was then that Perry realized how silent a place could be when breathing was absent. "My friends, she will not respect our right to rule our realm. We knew there would come a day when a figure would try to pry Rakuen from our very fingers. I'm now reaching out to you, Brethren, and begging for you to allow this mortal to pass! He is our ticket to keeping Eclipse out of the Vault of Souls while she lives."

The room stayed silent for a moment, but then whispers broke out among the Spectre. Their hushed voices almost sounded like breathing, but Perry didn't feel the warmth of the living among their utterances. This place was cold and dead, as was he. Many cast a wary glance at him, as if they were suspicious of him. Shivers ran down Perry's spine, and he began to wish that they'd just send him on to be at peace.

"Epaisseur, if what you are saying is true, I agree with you wholeheartedly," one of the Spectre near the top said, his voice echoing in the room. "Send the mortal to Rakuen!"

"Volute, are you mad?!" Coeurdemort shrieked. He stood up and looked at the Spectre with contempt on his face. "What are you saying, Volute?"

Volute. A wisp.

"I am saying that Epaisseur is correct!" Volute returned, waving his hand towards Perry's protector. He wished that he wouldn't; peace sounded better than a middle life alone to him. "Are you now an advocate of Lady Eclipse, Coeurdemort? Do you wish the Vault of Souls to fall into the hands of the _living_?"

Coeurdemort sat down. Volute nodded at Epaisseur, letting him know that he was free to speak his mind once more. The Spectre in front of Perry turned back to Sansvie and threw his arms out wide. Perry felt as if cowering would show weakness, but it was almost as if his body was trying to drag him down before the ghastly creature.

"A show of hands, my Brethren!" Epaisseur shouted out. "Who will grant Perry Flynn access to our haven? Who wishes to see Eclipse fail at taking our realm? Who wants to allow this mortal the right to life in the middle?!"

Hundreds of hands were raised. Naturally, neither Coeurdemort or Sanscorps raised their hands. A few others besides them left them down. Still, the majority seemed to approve of Perry's passage into Rakuen. A knot formed in Perry's throat. What had he done to deserve a life without his family?

"Oh, cruel fate," Perry whispered.

"It has been decided!" Sansvie smiled, rising up from his seat. He came down next to Perry and Epaisseur, his arms also spread out. "The Brethren have been in council, and they have chosen the path of this soul. Forever will this decision be looked upon by all of Rakuen. Now, come, Seven; we will bring this soul to Initiation."

Perry swallowed hard. So death wasn't the end.

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**Next Chapter is...Jamie**

**C'mon- who actually thought I'd get rid of Perry once and for all? :)**


	3. A Daughter's Desire

**Chapter three, here we go. I see there's happiness that Perry's still in the story :) Now, let's catch up with Daddy's Little Girl, shall we? -AJ **

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Jamie

Jamie pushed the door to the kitchen open and looked around. No one was in there, much to her relief. She walked in and set Lexi, her newborn daughter, down on the table. The small child squeaked in protest and frantically pawed the air, searching for her mother. Sighing, Jamie quickly walked over to the fridge, pulled out a cold container, and set it down on the counter. She absolutely hated having to feed her child blood, but what other choice did she have? The baby was a Lesser Vampri, just like herself, and they needed blood for the first three years of life.

She scooped the container up and went to sit next to Lexi. The smaller platypus let out an excited squeal and reached up at Jamie. Laughing a little, Jamie set the container down and picked up her daughter. Lexi's tiny hands felt around Jamie's fur.

"What?" Jamie chuckled. She stroked her daughter's fur and frowned at her. Being not only her daughter, but also her sister, Lexi was a frail child. Doctor Josef Svinski, the only doctor she'd ever trust, had told her that Lexi wouldn't live very long. Jamie didn't see any sense in arguing- he was probably right. Lexi's muscles hadn't developed in the right manner, she was legally blind from birth, and there was no need to mention her lack of common sense. For a six week old platypus, she should have been able to walk, "talk," and even know that her uncle's tail was not a pull cord. (Doof, the ex-nemesis and older brother to her father, had learned the hard way that Lexi never would understand that tails weren't to be pulled). It was, however, true that Lexi could do none of these things.

Picking up the container, Jamie slowly opened the top and reached for a spoon sitting on the counter behind her. The thought of what she was doing should have been repulsive, but Jamie was fighting the urge to down the blood herself. (She never explained to anyone why she kept the blood in containers in the fridge, but it was certainly a topic up for discussion when guests went to grab sodas from the fridge). She spooned a portion of the blood out of the container and waved it in front of Lexi's face.

"Hungry?" Jamie sighed. Lexi didn't respond, of course; she just grasped the spoon between her paws and shoved the portion into her mouth hungrily. "I guess that's a yes, hmm?"

To her left, Jamie heard the kitchen door swing open. She turned her head slightly to see a rather sleepy looking Phineas amble into the room. He rubbed his eyes and walked over to the fridge. After he pulled out an orange soda, he turned to the counter and nearly choked as he took a draught of the drink.

"Is there a problem, Uncle Phineas?" Jamie asked, not caring to look at him anymore.

"Jamie, what _is_ this white stuff all over the counter?" he demanded. Jamie had to resist the urge to laugh at her human uncle. "This is _vile_, who did this? You? Was it you?"

"That's marshmallow," she giggled. "Someone was making s'mores last night and forgot to clean up."

"Oh, right," Phineas nodded. He took a napkin and wiped the melted sugar off of the counter. "Well, tell whoever did it that I don't appreciate the heart attack in the morning. It's too much, too much."

"You're too young to have a heart attack in my opinion," Jamie shook her head. She readjusted Lexi in her lap and scooped up another spoonful of blood. Lexi grabbed for it and made a strange gurgling sound. Phineas turned around and watched as Jamie fed her daughter for a little bit.

"How's she doing?" he asked quietly.

"What?" Jamie responded, lifting her head up and blinking at her uncle. "I didn't catch that…"

"I asked how she was doing," Phineas restated.

"Oh," Jamie said. She frowned a little and looked down at her daughter. "She's okay, I suppose. I don't know if she's doing _good_, per se, but she's not in a detrimental state, if you know what I mean."

"Kinda," Phineas shrugged. He took another sip of his drink and swished it around in his mouth.

"It's weird, you know," Jamie said softly. "I've had Svinski tell me so many times that _I_ would die, but this is the first time he's ever told me that my child would be the one dwindling on the edge of life and death."

"I wish I could say I understood," Phineas said, taking a deep breath. "Not to mean that I want my kids to have anything wrong with them, but I wish I could relate to you. The only person I knew that could is…gone."

Jamie bit her lip and drew the spoon away from Lexi slowly. She knew good and well that he meant her father. A pang of guilt hit her in the chest, tightening around her heart like a vice. True, she didn't know for sure why her father had died, but she still felt it was her fault. Lexi had certainly put a wall up between herself and her mother, but the things it had done to her parents' relationship- she'd rather not thought of it.

"I'm sorry," Phineas apologized, turning a little red in the cheeks. He put a hand on her shoulder and frowned. "I-I didn't mean to bring it up."

"I-it's okay," Jamie lied. She refilled the spoon and held it up to Lexi. The baby didn't go for it this time, though. Instead, she started crying. Jamie sighed and placed the spoon into the container and closed it up. "Shh, baby."

"What's that all about?" Phineas raised one eyebrow in question.

"Sometimes she just won't eat," Jamie sighed. She lifted Lexi to her chest and pressed her daughter's head to her cheek. She rocked herself back and forth gently. "C'mon, what's wrong, sweetie? Not hungry?"

"There's no reason for this?" Phineas blinked. Jamie closed her eyes and shook her head. "Oh."

"Svinski's done all he can do without actually pulling her apart and examining her," Jamie told him. He sat back and let some air out through his teeth. "All we can figure is that she's either getting stomach pains or she sometimes has trouble swallowing. Other than that…my guess is as good as yours."

"Ah," Phineas said. He stood up and stretched out a little.

"On a different note, what's got you up so early?" Jamie asked, not caring to look up at her uncle. Lexi squirmed a little bit and continued to cry softly. "From what I can recollect, you haven't been an early bird since you were a pre-teen."

"Oh, shut up," Phineas smirked. He readjusted his shirt and cracked his knuckles. "And I'm going in today for a job interview. It's nothing high-paying, but it is a Gonarish job."

"Good," Jamie smiled a little. "We don't need you looking stupid at another U.S. job interview by telling them you didn't go to college."

"Yeah, Americans and their need for college degrees," Phineas huffed. He leaned on the back of one of the chairs and gave Jamie a sideways look. "They think that the only way to get hired is to have a college education, so their employers all think that if you _don't_ have a college diploma, you're not worth anything in the workforce. I'm so glad that Gonarede doesn't care."

"Yes, but you also have to consider that the Gonarish school system doesn't have but two colleges," Jamie pointed out. Lexi's crying toned down to an irritated gurgle. She smiled a little at this and returned her attention to her uncle. "They also know that with the constant villain threat, it's anything but easy to get a solid college education."

"Touché," Phineas chuckled. He yawned and waved one hand dismissively. "Well, I'm going upstairs to get ready. I'll see you before one, if I'm lucky."

"And if you're not?" Jamie blinked.

"Call either nine-one-one or the Gonarish kidnapping hotline," he sighed, turning to walk out of the kitchen.

"You're a laugh riot, Uncle Phineas," Jamie rolled her eyes.

"Bye, Jamie," he told her. He swung the door open again and walked through it quickly. Jamie shook her head. That was the typical Phineas- headstrong and always looking for a smile. It had been a while since anyone had seen him, much less seen him smile, but now that he was back home, his old optimism was returning.

Lexi let out a squeak when he left. Jamie laughed a little and pulled the baby in front of her face. The child's unseeing eyes flitted around. Sometimes Jamie wondered why her eyes would move to see, even if they clearly couldn't. It made her smile anyways.

"You okay now?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. Lexi squirmed a little and squeaked a second time. Jamie took that to mean that she was tired of sitting in the kitchen. "Okay, okay, let's go upstairs and let you play with your sister."

She stood up, still holding Lexi, and made sure to return the conner to its rightful place in the fridge. After putting that away, Jamie made her way upstairs to her and Matthew's bedroom; her mate was out on a mission for the O.W.C.A. at the moment, but he'd be back soon enough to help her out with the kids. She placed Lexi on the floor and called her four-year-old daughter, Alysson, over to play with her.

"Can you watch her while I run downstairs and get some things done?" Jamie asked her. Alysson nodded without a word and started to find means of entertaining her six-week-old sister. Jamie sighed in relief and ran back downstairs to find her sister, Zoe.

Zoe was the closest female sibling in age to Jamie, and she was also one of the strangest. Together, they had been the closest of the Flynn children, considerably, and Zoe had been Jamie's sole supporter through most of her trying things in life. It was Zoe that she needed now, if the situation would permit. She dashed into the living room to see Zoe curled up on the couch with her knees between her arms. Jamie went over to her and poked her gently in the arm. Her sister jumped and rolled off of the couch.

"Morning, sunshine," Jamie laughed.

"Sheesh, can a person sleep around here?" Zoe frowned. She rubbed her eyes and yawned sleepily. "What…what do you need?"

"I need a favor," Jamie said, folding her arms.

"What kind of a flavor?" Zoe squinted.

"Not _flavor_," Jamie stressed, bending over and making a face at her sister. She poked her in the shoulder and laughed some more. "I said _favor_."

"Oh," Zoe remarked. She stood up and stretched to the right. Jamie rolled her eyes and waited for her to completely stretch out. "Okay, so, what kind of favor are you needing me to fulfill?"

"This is going to sound a little bit crazy, maybe even mad," Jamie said, taking a deep breath.

"Okay," Zoe smiled. "I'm up for a little bit of a challenge."

"I need you to help me break into the O.W.C.A.," Jamie told her, letting out her breath. She thought that Zoe was going to have a heart attack, even if she was young. "I told you it was crazy!"

"Are you MAD?!" Zoe spluttered. "I thought this was one of your normal stunts here, not some insane stunt that would get us BOTH thrown in jail! What do you need of theirs, anyways?"

"They have _the_ evidence," Jamie said, raising her brow for emphasis.

"No…Jamie…no," Zoe shook her head. "No, you will not try that. Jamie, that's suicidal! I know you want to prove this, but think about the odds here- the O.W.C.A. is a government agency that has only been broken into by two people; your husband, by sheer luck and an invisibility cloak, and Semi, who, coincidentally, was most likely Dad. That would mean Semi got lucky, too, by being an agent that worked for Monogram in the first place. You- c'mon, let's not throw things out of proportion, Jamie, your luck sucks."

"This isn't about my luck, Zoe," Jamie said, shifting all of her weight to her left side. "This is about Dad. If you're not going to help me, this isn't going to happen."

"Why use _me_?" Zoe squeaked.

"Hello- Hidari!" Jamie exclaimed, rapping her knuckles on Zoe's forehead. Zoe frowned and pushed Jamie's hand away. "You can use your Hej without flaw. I need someone who can do that. I also need someone I can trust. You're that girl."

"Fair enough," Zoe sighed. "What's wrong with _your_ Hej, though?"

"Um, maybe I'm a Lesser Vampri and my Hej is directly connected with negative connotations?" Jamie said. Zoe's face lit up with realization and she nodded to let her know she understood. "Yes, it's true- Lesser Vampri Hej is practically black magic. I'm not going to use it."

"Just get a Hej removal, then," Zoe rolled her eyes. "Anyways, when are you planning on doing this? And how? Do you have a plan or anything, or are you going to run in all willy nilly?"

"You know, running in all willy nilly _is_ a plan of sorts," Jamie pointed out.

"Oh, whatever!" Zoe cried. She wiped her forehead and shook her head. "I just want to know if we know what we're doing or if we're going off of your hormonal impulses or whatnot. Do you know what I mean? Or are you just going to let me keep rambling?"

"Nope," Jamie shook her head and smirked. "We're breaking in right now."

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Ferb**

**Is Jamie okay...upstairs? Probably not, she's based a lot off of myself...**


	4. A Sliver of Hope

**I couldn't help hurrying up and posting this one. Enjoy. -AJ **

* * *

Ferb

The first thing Ferb saw when he walked up to the front door of his stepbrother's house was Jamie and Zoe running out of it. They both issued a polite 'excuse me' and continued to sprint down the sidewalk. He wanted to ask what in the world they were in a hurry to do, but he didn't feel like chasing them down. Laughing to himself, he just shook his head and knocked on Phineas' front door.

After a few seconds, a sleepy-looking Phineas opened up the door and smiled at him. Ferb looked his stepbrother up and down and tried not to laugh. His hair was messy, his collar was flipped skyward on one side, and there was an obvious lack of pants.

"Phineas, I thought I was driving you to an interview," Ferb chuckled.

"You are," Phineas nodded. Ferb put one hand on his stepbrother's shoulder and did his best to keep a straight face. "What?"

"There's a few things you should straighten up," Ferb smiled at him. "And, um, I don't think you should walk out in the street with no pants on. A few people might be scared."

"Oh, right!" Phineas exclaimed, standing up a little taller. He ran back into the house to make himself more presentable. While he waited, Ferb went and sat back down in his car with Lyla, a Canadian O.W.C.A. member who'd just gotten her green card to come and live in Danville. Lyla and Ferb had a funny story; they'd met on a flight on which Ferb had taken to find Phineas and he'd hadn't lost sight of her since. He'd even canceled his own wedding to turn around and marry her. Sure, it was short notice. And yes, the wedding had been small. But it was worth it. They shared a quick kiss and smiled at each other.

"He's coming," Ferb told her. She laughed and twisted her wedding ring around her finger. It was a habit she'd picked up almost instantly after the wedding. Ferb figured it was because she wasn't used to wearing jewelry. "He just forgot something."

"Okay," she said airily. She looked out of the window and watched the breeze rustle the leaves of trees nearby.

"Is something bothering you?" Ferb asked, noticing her lack of words. She shook her head and leaned back in the passenger seat, drawing her knees up to her chest and smiling at him. "You seem a little off today, that's all."

"Oh?" she murmured. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Phineas came dashing out of the house while adjusting a necktie. He leapt up, slid across the hood of the car, and opened the back door on the right side. Giving Ferb a quick smile, he slipped into the back seat and looked to Lyla.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing spies!" Phineas joked, poking Lyla in the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm off duty," she laughed.

"I'm only kidding with you, Mrs. Fletcher," Phineas chuckled. He looked back and forth between the two with a large grin on his face and muttered something inaudible. When both gave him a confused look, he shrugged. "I'm just happy to know that you two are happy. And I'm super glad that Ferb finally found the girl of his dreams."

"We can't all have a 'girl across the street' who ends up getting married to us," Ferb rolled his eyes.

"Nope," Phineas shook his head. "Some of us prefer foreign spies that used to work with our family pet."

"Do you have an off-switch?" Ferb sighed. He turned the key in the ignition and Lyla buckled her seatbelt.

"Yep, I sure do!" Phineas nodded. Ferb gave him a warning look. "What, did you want to try and find it?"

"No!" Ferb and Lyla exclaimed in unison. Phineas shook his head and leaned back in the seat. Lyla shook her head as well. Ferb put the car into reverse and quickly hit the gas pedal. His surprised stepbrother flew into the back of Lyla's seat.

"Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Even foreign spies know that you should put your seatbelt on, eh?" Lyla giggled, casting a look back at the very startled Phineas. He sat back up and begrudgingly pulled on his belt. "Now that you're all buckled up, what's been going on at your house? How's your kids? And P, how's he doing?"

"Who?" Phineas blinked. She turned around slightly and raised her brow for emphasis.

"P, Agent P," Lyla said.

"She means Perry," Ferb chuckled. He backed the car out and got going down the road. "I'm curious, too, you haven't talked about him for six whole weeks. It's just been 'Lexi this' and 'Jamie that'. How's Perry been taking it all?"

"P-Perry?" Phineas swallowed. His face darkened. Ferb glanced at his brother through the rear view mirror. "U-uh…well, you see, um…"

"Phineas, what happened?" Ferb asked, not really up for hearing about another bad accident involving the platypus. Despite the differences he and Perry had in the past years, he still loved him as he had when he'd been nothing more than the best family pet anyone ever knew. "Is Perry alright?"

"Depends on your definition of alright," Phineas said softly. He stared down into his lap and sighed deeply.

"Go on," Lyla urged him. "Is he hurt?"

"N-no," Phineas shook his head. Lyla went to ask another question, but Ferb motioned for her to let him take his time. A tear formed in Phineas' left eye and slowly crawled down his cheek. "I don't know how to say this, really. The night Lexi was born, though…he…I mean when Xhirxhti and I got upstairs…there was…there was so much blood…"

"B-blood?" Lyla stammered. Phineas nodded and stopped holding back his tears. They spilled over his cheeks, a river of pain that he must have been hiding from them for the past six weeks.

"I-I can't believe he'd do it…" Phineas cried, taking ahold of his head in his hands and cramming it between his knees. "H-he was never s-selfish in that manner. T-taking his own life like that…"

"He didn't…" Lyla whispered. She saw Phineas nod his head again. Ferb bit his lip and tried to swallow the lump of guilt in his throat. Even if he hadn't done anything to lead to this, he still felt as if he should have done something to stop it. It didn't make sense, though. Perry wasn't a depressed creature; he loved his family and couldn't stay upset as long as he knew they were safe.

His eyes wandered over to his wife. A look of bewilderment was painted across her face. She'd never been incredibly close to Perry, but he'd been a partner in the field and a friend. He placed one hand on her shoulder and continued the drive in silence. The only sound that could be heard was Phineas' loud sobbing, which died down the closer they came to the place he'd be dropped off at.

When they arrived at the place, Phineas wiped his face off and gave Ferb a polite thank you. He asked if Ferb could pick him up in about three hours at a coffee shop nearby, and Ferb kindly told him that he would. After Phineas left, he drove back to Phineas' house and parked his car sloppily in the driveway.

"Baby, what are you doing?" Lyla asked, growing at him.

"It's okay, his car won't be out of the shop for another five days," Ferb told her, assuming she was talking about his parking. "He totaled it, remember?"

"That's not what I meant," Lyla said, blinking. He nodded for her to come with him and hurriedly walked up to the house. "Ferb, what's going on? What are we doing?"

"You'll see," he said quietly.

He knocked on the door, only to be answered by Dillon, one of the most immature children Perry had. Rolling his eyes when Dillon asked what he wanted, he brushed past the boy, dragging Lyla along behind him. He led her upstairs and then knocked on the door to the room he knew to belong to Perry and Xhirxhti.

"Jamie, I told you before-" came an agitated sob. The door swung open to reveal Xhirxhti in her platypus form. Her eyes were red and puffy, her fur was a complete mess, and she wasn't wearing the silver lightning bolt pendant she usually wore. "Oh…Ferb…"

"Is what Phineas said true?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry?" she sniffled, unsure of what he meant.

"About Perry," Ferb said firmly. He noticed how her body seemed to jerk back in pain when he said the platypus' name. "Is is true that Perry's dead?"

Xhirxhti lowered her head, crammed one fist into her mouth, and pointed behind herself. Ferb walked in slowly and saw a glass coffin sitting next to her bed. So it was true. He made his way over to the coffin slowly, trying not to upset the already distressed Kyea princess.

The top had been sloppily replaced on the coffin. Ferb could tell that Xhirxhti had most likely been messing with Perry's body at least thirty minutes prior. He gently picked up the lid and sat it on the floor next to the rest of the coffin. Lyla came and stood next to him, her hand clasped over her mouth. Ferb looked at his wife and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to look if it bothers you," he told her. She knelt down beside the coffin, Ferb following in suit. He watched as she slipped one hand over to Perry's face and pulled his eyelids over his eyes.

"There," she whispered. "Now he looks…peaceful…"

"Yes," Ferb nodded. He swallowed and tried to imagine what could have possibly entered the platypus' mind. The deep gash across Perry's heart had been cleaned up, but it hadn't been tended to. From what Ferb knew about Kyea and their death customs, it had probably bothered Xhirxhti to even let someone clean up the blood from the wound. "There's hope that he could have made it to Rakuen, though, you know."

"Don't lie to her," Xhirxhti said darkly. She turned and faced the couple with a look of contempt on her face. "You know as well as I do that they'd never let someone like Perry into Rakuen."

"You either underestimate the Spectre or you underestimate your own mate," Ferb said softly. "They accept the souls of those who deserve a second chance, not just Hej-wielders."

"And what makes you think they'd consider my mate over an Eiyu-tachi of high regard?" Xhirxhti demanded, tears starting to pool on her cheeks. Ferb bit his lip a little. "You give way too much credit to him. Yes, he was the greatest thing in the world, but being a wonderful husband doesn't account to much of anything in the eyes of dead Frenchmen!"

"Dead Frenchmen?" Lyla mouthed, clearly lost. She shook her head and grasped one of Perry's tiny hands in her own. "He would have found that somewhat humorous."

"What of his dreams?" Ferb raised his eyebrows.

"His dreams, Ferb Fletcher?" Xhirxhti spat. Her brow furrowed into a scowl. "You still put merit into those things?! They were _dreams_! How many more times will I have to tell someone this? Just because they matched up with some true events doesn't mean that he was a seer or something!"

"No, he wasn't a seer, I'll agree with you on that one," Ferb said calmly. "But there was something to be said about his dreams. He may have been a Korobu-chisai, but he wasn't an ordinary one, that's for sure."

"SHUT UP!" Xhirxhti shrieked. She dropped to the floor and curled up into the fetal position. A few of her children's heads popped around the corner of the door to see what their mother was angry about.

"I meant no offense," Ferb said, standing up. Lyla stood up as well, blowing a kiss to the corpse of her fellow spy as she did so.

"Get out," Xhirxhti said. Her words were muffled through her arm. Ferb inched towards the door a little.

"Hope still exists, Lexolav," Ferb told her. This put the already distraught Kyea over the edge. Upon hearing her birth name, she leapt up and violently shoved the man out of her room. Lyla sprinted along after him, unwilling to see the rage building up in the broken woman.

"I SAID GET OUT!" she screamed. She slammed the door so hard that it broke through the frame of the threshold and flew over the railing of the stairs. Ferb had to cover Lyla with his body to keep the door from hitting her. It had just barely grazed his shoulder. When he looked back up, Xhirxhti was curled back up on the floor shrieking frantically and screaming in Kyeaclae.

"I think it's time we left, Lyla," Ferb said quietly. He grabbed her by the hand and hurried her to the front door. The numerous platypus children jumped out of his way, even though a few desperately called his name and requested to be picked up.

"Uncle Ferb!" one little girl cried. "Don't leave us here alone!"

He hated to tell her that he couldn't stay, that he had other things to do. Their mother must have been putting them all in a terrified state of mind. Before he walked out, Xhirxhti walked out and stared down at him viciously.

There was a sliver of hope in her broken eyes. Or so Ferb hoped.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Zoe**

**Is there any hope?**


	5. Breaking In

**Two in one day, guys! :) -AJ **

* * *

Zoe

She wanted to tell Jamie that the whole idea was madness and that there were certain reasons she wasn't exactly up to breaking into the O.W.C.A., but how could Zoe refuse Jamie such an important request? After all, it was for their dad. Jamie tiptoed into the house that her and Zoe had grown up in.

"Jamie, I _really_ don't like this," Zoe whined. She gave her sister a warning glance and then looked towards the bedroom she knew to belong to her "grandparents;" Phineas and Ferb's parents. "What if Grandma and Grandpa wake up and see us in their house?"

"Get a backbone, Zoe," Jamie rolled her eyes. She hopped up onto the couch and removed a picture of the Flynn-Fletcher family from the wall to reveal a hole big enough to fit three of Jamie in. "Here we go. It's wide open."

"Oh, that was easy," Zoe remarked.

"Yeah, you're funny," Jamie chuckled. She pulled her up onto the couch and pointed down the hole. "You're going first."

"What?!" Zoe exclaimed. Jamie gave her sister a hard look.

"You're going to conceal us with your Hej, nitwit," Jamie said. She pushed Zoe closer to the hole. Her nervous sister froze. She pushed her a second time. Still nothing. She pushed her a third time. "For Cressella's sake, Zoe, it's not like we're committing a federal offense here!"

"We're breaking into a government operation here!" Zoe squeaked. "And you say it's not a federal offense?!"

"Zoe, I'm giving you three seconds," Jamie raised her brow. "One."

"Can we think this over a little?" Zoe pleaded.

"Two."

"There's a hundred different things that could happen, here," Zoe said, sweat forming on her brow. "W-we could be rational about this. There's always a possibility that you're just acting on crazy impulses, like that time that you-"

"Three, down you go!" Jamie grinned. She grabbed Zoe by the arms and swung her through the hole. Zoe screamed a little as she slid down the winding tube. When she got to the bottom, she landed on her face and yelped in pain. Jamie came down after her and landed on her feet. "Seriously, Zoe. Concealment!"

"Okay, okay!" Zoe said in a hushed voice. She thought about it for a second, and then found the word she was looking for. "Xymyr!"

"Are we invisible?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah," Zoe nodded. She hit herself in the face and reminded herself that Jamie couldn't see her nodding her head. "It's pretty cool, but the only problem with this spell is that you can't see your own feet…"

"Sure, sure…" Jamie responded. Zoe walked forward and ended up tripping over something. "Ow! That was my tail, you moron!"

"Oh…sorry," Zoe swallowed. "I told you, you're invisible!"

"Yeah, well, watch where you plant those feet, okay?" Jamie returned. "It's not funny!"

"Jamie…" Zoe sighed. "Invisible."

"Oh…right."

"Yeah, think about it a little more, why don't you?"

"Right, right," Jamie said. Zoe could picture her nodding to this. "Now, we're looking for Major Monogram's office. That's where he's probably keeping the evidence. If we can just get our hands on that knife…and possibly his records…we can change a lot of things."

"You know you're insane, right?" Zoe asked, looking in the direction she heard Jamie's voice.

"Shut up," Jamie told her. "Now follow me."

"Seriously, what part of _invisible_ don't you get?" Zoe frowned. She waited for a reply from Jamie, but one didn't come. "Um, uh, Jame-ster? You…you still there?"

Silence.

"Jamie?" Zoe said, looking around. "Dang it, now I'm being the stupid invisible one. Jamie, seriously if you're holding your breath, this really isn't funny."

The only sound that responded to her was the distinct start up of the air conditioning. Zoe sighed and removed the spell from herself. If her sister was going to play hardball, she was going to have to be able to keep up. If her mate knew what she was doing…

Zoe inched her way around the room and finally concluded that Jamie had, indeed, left the room. She desperately wanted to run down the hallway after her sister, now that she knew she'd left the room, but Zoe knew running wasn't such a good idea. She'd promised her mate, anyways, that she wouldn't be doing any activities that would 'put her under too much physical strain.' She started down the hallway and looked around nervously.

"Jamie…" she called. Something invisible clamped over her mouth, and Zoe knew she'd either found Jamie rather quickly, or Jamie had come back to find her once she'd realized Zoe hadn't actually followed. Zoe's eyelids fell a little, expressing her tire of the situation.

"You, Zoe, are a complete idiot sometimes," Jamie whispered. "If you're having so much trouble, just make me visible again!"

"Sheesh…" Zoe sighed. She waved her hand in mock emphasis. "Ryvero!"

"Thank you," Jamie smiled. It still amazed Zoe how fast Hej worked. "Now can we get on with this, please?"

"I'm tired," Zoe whined. She subconsciously rubbed the top of her abdomen and sighed. "Can we just call it a night and go back home? I mean, what's the point of this all anyways?"

"What are you doing to your stomach?" Jamie asked, giving Zoe a confused look. She stepped back a little. "You're not sick, are you? Because I can't afford to clean your vomit off of me…"

"This is coming from someone who's had four babies," Zoe smirked.

"Hey, to be fair, Omega has never vomitted a day in his life," Jamie pointed out. Zoe nodded her head submissively and kept the smile on her face. "And yeah, I get it; three of my kids have spit-up on me, puked on me, and other such gross things, but you aren't my kid. It's way more disgusting to have it coming from you."

"Well," Zoe huffed jokingly. Jamie punched her in the shoulder and dragged her along hastily. "Whoa, slow down there, woman, it's not like we only have ten minutes!"

"Why do you want to take your time about this?" Jamie asked, clearly frustrated with her. Zoe sighed. She didn't feel like explaining herself at the moment. "Seriously, what's up with you?"

"Nothing unusual…" Zoe muttered. "Let's just get this over with and get out of here. I can't stand the idea of being caught."

"Neither can most people who break into the O.W.C.A."

Zoe wrenched her arm away from Jamie and turned to see who had spoken. Standing directly in front of Jamie was none other than Terry. Both girls blinked, unable to find anything of merit to say. Jamie started to say something, but Zoe quickly interrupted her.

"We're trying to find Matthew, that's all," Zoe smiled, hoping that the turtle didn't see past it. Unfortunately, he did.

"Look, Jamie, and what's-your-face," Terry said gruffly. "I don't want to have to arrest you girls. You're the daughters of my best friend in the whole wide world- let's not make this any more difficult than it has to be, okay?"

"What Zoe was trying to say was that we're here for my mate," Jamie said. Terry didn't move. He was clearly unamused by the repeated use of this lie. "He asked us to meet him down here, and we're confused as to where to find him at. Could you direct us to his office, perhaps?"

"Okay, Jamie," Terry sighed. "I get it. You're too scared to tell me the truth. I could always go and get Monogram to force the truth out of you."

"PLEASE DON'T!" Zoe exclaimed. "WE HAVE LIVES TO LIVE AND CHILDREN TO FEED! PLEASE, PLEASE, WE'LL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN, I SWEAR TO YOU ON MY FATHER'S GRAVE!"

"Nice, only Dad doesn't have a grave," Jamie said through her teeth. "And I'm the only one with kids besides Mom, Aunt Candace, and Uncle Phineas."

"About that…" Zoe said, grinning sheepishly.

"Ladies, would one of you just please tell me what you're here for?!" Terry asked, stepping closer to Jamie. "I don't want to have to turn you guys in, you know that better than anyone else! If you don't tell me, though, I'm not letting you go! Got it?"

"Okay, okay, sheesh!" Jamie said, putting her hands up in defeat. "I asked Zoe if she would break into the O.W.C.A. with me and help me steal the evidence that is connected to Dad's death so that we could fake that he didn't commit suicide, like the evidence shows."

Terry's eyes widened in disbelief. Sighing, Jamie put her hands back down. Zoe crossed her arms and waited for the shocked turtle to reply. He blinked a few times, scratched the back of his neck, and then worked his jaw around. Jamie jutted her head forward to emphasize that she was expecting a response.

"I said tell me the truth," Terry said slowly.

"Great, he doesn't believe me!" Jamie said, covering her eyes with her hands and groaning. Zoe patted her on the back and shook her head. "Why doesn't he believe me?"

"To be fair, it _does _ sound like something an insane person would think up," Zoe said. Her sister growled a little in dislike.

"Thanks, Zoe," Jamie said sarcastically. "That really makes me feel better."

"I wish it made me feel better," Zoe sighed. Jamie gave her yet another confused look. "What?"

"Are you sure you're not sick?" Jamie grimaced.

"I never once said I wasn't," Zoe quickly told her.

"You're sick?" Jamie straightened up. "Like, you feel like you're gonna hurl, in all seriousness?"

"Yes," Zoe nodded.

"I think it's time I escorted you ladies up to the ground level," Terry rolled his eyes. He grabbed them both by the arm and led them over to the nearest elevator. Shoving them inside, he gave them both a stern glare and tipped his hat. "Don't try to pull anymore stunts like this, okay?"

"What?!" Jamie turned to him and gave him her best puppy face. "Y-you were supposed to help us, and come to our side and want to save the reputation of your best friend!"

"Go home, Jamie," Terry winked.

"What on Earth does he mean by that wink?" Zoe whispered. The door to the elevator started to close, and as it did, Terry threw something into the elevator car. Zoe stooped down and picked it up. It was a plastic bag, with a dagger inside. The dagger had an ebony handle, with scarlet teardrops embedded in it. "Is this…?"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Jamie said in a hushed whisper. She snatched the dagger away from Zoe and hugged it. "We can clear his record! Zoe, this is actually happening, can you believe it?"

Zoe didn't respond. She was too busy concerning herself with the nausea building up in her stomach. Doing her best to shoot a smile to her sister, she leaned up against the side of the car and waited for the sickening upward motion to stop. Jamie walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" she frowned. Zoe shook her head no. She placed a hand on her stomach and moaned. Jamie rubbed Zoe's arm and smiled a little. "Don't worry, I'll get you back to the house in a little bit, okay? Just let me know if you absolutely have to throw up, okay?"

Nodding, Zoe closed her eyes and tried her best to breathe slowly. She didn't normally get motion sickness, but right now she felt as if she'd hit vertigo. Her head started to swim and her belly felt as if it were doing somersaults. Zoe clutched her stomach and tried her hardest not to drop to the floor. When the elevator came to a stop, Jamie had to drag her off of it with one of Zoe's arms strapped across her back.

"What on Earth did you eat today, Zoe?" Jamie asked. Zoe shook her head. No, it wasn't anything she'd eaten. Not today, at least. "Then why are you sick like this? I have to drag you all the way to our house, and I can't even know why?"

"Now…is not…the time to…talk about this…" Zoe said, stopping to gag a little bit in between words.

"Squeeze my wrist or tell me if you're gonna hurl, Zoe, I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't want to clean your puke off of me," Jamie warned her. Zoe didn't respond. She didn't think she was actually going to vomit. It just felt like she had to.

"I-I think I'm…good for now," Zoe said, taking a gulping breath of air. She pressed her free hand to her belly and closed her eyes a little. "Why…why didn't you warn me?"

"Warn you?" Jamie stopped walking and sat Zoe down on a bench that was sitting near the sidewalk. "Warn you about what?"

"The nausea…" Zoe rubbed her stomach. Jamie put a hand over her mouth.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Xhirxhti**

**Will Perry's record be swiped clean now? **


	6. Xhirxhti's Struggles

**I finally finished the next chapter. Here we go! -AJ **

* * *

Xhirxhti

When Jamie brought Zoe into the house late that night, Xhirxhti had honestly expected the worst. Zoe was extremely nauseous and on the verge of vertigo. She was downstairs now with Jamie, trying to get as many answers as possible from her daughter.

"Why won't you tell me where you two were, Jamie Marie Flynn?" Xhirxhti demanded, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"Why should you care?!" Jamie spat. She scrunched her shoulders up and took a deep breath. "You've been sobbing all day and not caring about what anyone else was doing, why should what I was doing matter?"

"I know you, Jamie," Xhirxhti growled. "You look like you were up to something I don't feel like dealing with later. So spill it."

"Seriously, Mom, I'm old enough to do things without you snooping in my business!" Jamie whined. She turned and went to leave the room. Xhirxhti, who wasn't quite ready for the conversation to be over, used her Hej to lock the door and keep it locked. "Really?!"

"I'm not done," she said sharply. "I don't care how old you are, I'm your mother, and you're going to listen to me and do as I say."

"Zoe and I were just out looking for Matthew," Jamie huffed.

"You're lying," Xhirxhti frowned. Jamie shifted her feet a little. It seemed to unnerve her that her mother could detect her lies without reading her mind. "You need to tell me where you were, and you need to tell me now."

"Why does it even matter?" Jamie insisted.

"Because you're acting like you're up to no good, and whatever you did, you got your sister sick!" Xhirxhti said, throwing her hands out for emphasis. "If I get a call from animal control or something, I swear you're going to be in more trouble than you've ever been in!"

"Oh, I get in trouble for breaking into the O.W.C.A. to clear Dad's name, but _Legolas_ doesn't get in trouble for shaming the whole family's name and nearly killing me?!"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Xhirxhti exclaimed. Footsteps could be heard upstairs.

"…Nothing."

"Jamie, have you gone mad, child?" Xhirxhti asked, pressing her fingers into her temples to massage them. Her daughter sighed heavily and pulled a plastic bag off of the counter behind her. Inside of it was, to Xhirxhti's dismay, was the dagger that Perry had used to kill himself with. "You have a lot of nerve bringing that out in front of me, Jamie Flynn."

"I have to prove that Dad didn't murder himself," Jamie said firmly. The door behind her shook a little. Xhirxhti unlocked it the same way she'd locked it and watched Phineas stumble inside, falling straight onto the floor. "Hey, Uncle Phineas."

"Well, you could have warned me that the door was going to fly open," he said, spitting out something. Jamie and Xhirxhti both looked around for sand or dirt on the floor, but they couldn't find anything. He stood up quickly and fixed his hair somewhat. "I was coming down here to see what all of the yelling was about."

"Mom and Jamie are being testy today…" Zoe moaned, appearing from around the corner. "And Jamie didn't warn me that eating your breakfast pull-aparts would kill my stomach."

"Hey, what's wrong with my cooking?" Phineas frowned, appearing slightly hurt at the mention of his cooking causing harm. Xhirxhti rolled her eyes and stormed out of the room. The man followed her out and called after her. "Xhirxhti, what's your deal lately?"

"Let's watch your other half commit suicide and then we'll see what's wrong with you," she grumbled. Phineas stooped down and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Stop trying. You know it won't do either of us any good."

"I have to try," Phineas said softly. He turned her around slowly and gently tilted her head up so that he could look into her eyes. "Perry would want me to try."

"Don't say his name," Xhirxhti hissed, pain swelling up in her throat. She swallowed hard and blinked her eyes a little to keep from crying. The human's expression was soft and caring, but she knew he could never understand this from her point of view. Her first thought was to pull away and leave him standing there, but she felt for some reason that it would be better to stay there.

"Why not?" Phineas asked, tilting his head to the left a little. "After all, if we don't say his name, we'll forget it. Perry deserves to be remembered, does he not?"

"You humans do things much differently than we Kyea do," she replied quietly. "I have not spoken my father's name since his death."

"Do you even remember it?" Phineas knit his brow together. "Surely you do?"

"I do," Xhirxhti looked down solemnly.

"What was it?" Phineas whispered. "I tell you my father's name, if it makes you more comfortable."

"I thought your father was Lawrence?" Xhirxhti frowned, confused.

"No," Phineas shook his head, trying not to laugh at her. He bit his lip. "He's my stepfather. My real father…he was killed in a car accident by the Mytax. His name was William, William Flynn."

"So that is why your surname is different than Ferb's," Xhirxhti hummed. The human raised his eyebrows and waited for her to return the action. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "My father…his name was…was Eqon. He was the wisest and kindest king Nepoçie had ever seen."

"Then remember his name and say it so that people will remember," Phineas smiled. "The same goes for Perry."

"Remembrance isn't always verbal, Phineas Flynn," Xhirxhti pulled away from his touch slowly. He rested his hands on his knees and sighed.

"I guess you're right," he nodded. He stood up and gave her a small smile. "Just think about what I said, okay? You've got kids that need your support now more than ever. If I can't get you out of this funk…I'm hoping that someone can."

"I'll consider it," Xhirxhti said flatly.

"Alright then," Phineas chuckled. As he turned to leave, he quickly added an unrelated request. "Oh, and could you please tell Jamie and Zoe that my cooking is _not _harmful?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Xhirxhti nodded. Satisfied with that answer, he happily made his way back to his bedroom to resume his slumber. Xhirxhti blinked and waited for his door to shut. When she heard the ever-so-soft click of the door closing, she faced the couch and frowned. "Kid can build a roller coaster in a morning, yet he can't fix a meal to save his life…let's hope his life never depends on satisfying an enemy with a great-tasting meal."

Shaking her head, she quietly walked back to the room Jamie and Zoe were in, poked her head in, informed them that she'd be dealing with them in the morning, and then she made her way towards her bedroom. She climbed the stairs as silently as possible and entered the empty doorway to her room. Sighing, and mentally cursing her anger earlier, she picked up the door from where she'd set it and placed it in front of the threshold.

"Perhaps Phineas is right," she whispered to herself, running her fingers along the smoothness of the door. She sighed and turned to face her bed and Perry's coffin. The moonlight that was leaking through the blinds in her window splashed across the glass cover that sat beside her husband's body. She must have forgotten to place it back over him.

Taking her time, she walked over to the coffin and bent down to lift up the glass lid, but she paused. Lyla had closed Perry's eyes. Xhirxhti gently sat down on the table next to his body and breathed out slowly. He looked at peace now. She leaned up against him and tried to imagine him putting his arms around her and holding her close. But how could she? What he was now was nothing but an empty corpse. He was a body without a soul.

"I will remember you, Perry," she said, her voice barely audible. She kissed his cold cheek and felt a tear roll down her own. Laughing a little to herself, she brought her thumb across the fur under his left eye, smoothing it down. "My mother was right, you know. Immortals and mortals shouldn't be together. But, she was also wrong. You were the perfect one for me."

Her mind wandered back to how things should have been for her. As a royal Kyea, her duty would have been to marry her brother, the prince. At the time, it hadn't bothered her, but after spending time on Earth, she'd come to realize how much she thought that was not only a disgusting idea but also that she wanted love, not betrothal, to be the reason for her marriage. She smiled down at Perry. Now that she thought about it and put her grief aside, she was certain she'd made the right choice all along.

"I remember the first time we met," she said softly. "When you sat there, on Doof's floor, unconscious, I couldn't see anything but someone I wanted to have hold me and love me for the rest of my existence. And then when you opened your eyes and looked into mine; that, _that_ was love at first sight. You may not have felt it then, but I knew in that moment there was no one I'd rather be with.

"I also remember the first time we kissed. Or, rather, the first time I kissed you. You turned so red…I thought for sure you'd run off or pull your hat down, but you ended up fainting instead. I think, though, that it opened up your eyes. After all, you took me to be yours, and I took you to be mine. I'm forever glad that you did."

Behind her, a light flickered. Frowning, Xhirxhti wondered which of her children was assuming now was a great time to bother her. She turned around, her eyes closed. Pressing fingers into her temples, she did her best to think of the calmest way to respond.

"What do you need?" she asked. When no one responded, Xhirxhti opened her eyes to see who it was. And then, she screamed.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Perry**

**What on Earth is she screaming at?**


	7. A Way Out

**Okay, I apologie ahead of time, this chapter is REALLY long. -AJ **

* * *

Perry

"I'm going to need you to fingerprint this."

Perry gave Epaisseur an unamused look. The Spectre blinked at him and cocked his head slightly to the right. They held the stare for a long time, neither moving to do anything else, and both waiting for the other to make the first move. It was Epaisseur that eventually did so.

"Seriously, Perry, I need your fingerprint," he said calmly.

"In case you haven't noticed, Epaisseur, I happen to be dead," Perry said firmly. "That means that my body, the thing made of flesh and blood with the fur and the skin and all, it's still got my fingerprints on it."

"Perry, I would know more about dead people than you would, just give me your index finger," Epaisseur said, trying to keep from laughing. He handed Perry a piece of carbon-paper and smiled. "We need you to be certifiably dead."

"Certifiably dead?" Perry smirked. "I'm sure they've already got my certificate of death back in the land of the living."

"Now what good does that do there?" Epaisseur frowned. Perry sighed and pressed his index finger into the carbon-paper, slightly shocked to see his fingerprint appear on it. "After all, your death certificate here is like that of a 'confirmation of your citizenship' to Rakuen. What does it do for you in the living world?"

"It just makes you legally dead," Perry shrugged. He couldn't help but laugh at this fact. Now that it had been pointed out this way, it did seem kind of silly to have someone be declared 'legally' dead. What was so illegal about death? It happened to everyone.

"How strange," Epaisseur hummed. He floated over to a filing cabinet and carefully placed the paper inside. Turning back around, he gave Perry a kind smile and sighed contentedly. "Now you're officially a citizen of Rakuen."

"Living the dream," Perry rolled his eyes. "I mean, uh, dying the dream?"

"Ah, so much meaning to words and phrases now that you're dead, hmm?" Epaisseur laughed heartily. He pushed Perry along and pointed for a door in the back of his office. "We'll head out this way to Main."

"Maine?" Perry blinked. "Like, the state?"

"State? What?" Epaisseur shook his head. Perry awkwardly looked as his feet. "No, no, Main as in what we call our main street. Everyone uses Main, walks along Main, and is familiar with every inch of Main. My, my, your little Korobu-chisai mind isn't taking well to Rakuen, is it?"

"I'd have to say not," Perry said, as Epaisseur shoved him out of the door eagerly. He looked out over Main and figured that if he'd have been breathing just then, his breath would have been taken away. Spectre were everywhere, greeting one another and busying themselves about. Perry couldn't imagine what in the Alterverse the dead could possibly be busy with, but there they were, as busy as bees.

"Overwhelmed, are we?" Epaisseur chuckled. He started out ahead of Perry and waved for him to follow. "Will you allow me to educate you on the death and times of Rakuen, Perry Flynn?"

"Well, you're better than anyone else here," Perry said quietly. "Apparently most of your Brotherhood doesn't like me too well."

"Ah, come now!" Epaisseur said cheerily. "They're just hardened by years of not letting in pathetic Korobu-chisai. The selection process is tedious and well-thought out. That's why Rakuen isn't more heavily populated than Ceres."

"Ceres?" Perry mumbled.

"Now, all that you see here is the tangible realm of Rakuen," Epaisseur said, not hearing Perry's confusion. "Yes, the living can be here, too. The entrance to Rakuen from the land of the living is in Nice, France, Earth. This is why most of the Brotherhood's names come from the French language. Their catacombs delight us to no end."

"Yuck," Perry gagged. He didn't want to imagine the French catacombs, even if he himself was dead, too.

"The living rarely come to see their dead _amis_, though," Epaisseur shook his head sadly. He pointed to a large area that looked like a stadium. "Most of them come for the fun. Anyways, if you go to the left of Main, you'll be in the intangible realm of Rakuen. The living cannot go there. It's physically impossible for them to reach. That is where we dwell. Remember that, Perry- the fun happens in the tangible realm, the dwelling happens in the intangible realm."

"Right," Perry nodded. "And how exactly do you define fun in Rakuen?"

"Oh, there's only one source of fun in Rakuen, and it's the most interesting game in all of the Alterverse!" Epaisseur cried, turning back to the stadium. "That there is the Stade de Maux! There is where Rakuen holds its most treasured and violent contest, its only contest, the Timeshift."

"The Timeshift?" Perry repeated.

"Yes, Perry, the Timeshift," Epaisseur said, letting the name come out of his mouth like it were sweet victory and crushing pain at the same time. "Some people die just to see it! It's the only game in the Alterverse that has an unbeatable prize for its champions- a second chance at life, to return to the realm of the living as the same person they were before, with the same body!"

"I'm listening," Perry said, suddenly interested.

"It's nothing short of difficult, my friend!" Epaisseur said haughtily. He turned back to Perry and offered him yet another smile. "Every competition is different, and every one experiences something different in that arena. It's a compilation of joint efforts and head-to-head fights. You can only use your primal instincts and knowledge of whatever settings you end up in.

"You see, it's called the Timeshift because every time you successfully complete a mission in the competition, the scenery will change around you. You'll be taken to different places across different time periods and you must figure out what the mission is from your surroundings and then complete it. If it's a joint effort, you must complete it with your opponent, but if it's head-to-head, you must be the first to complete it.

"It's a series of twelve differing missions. Each mission gradually becomes more and more difficult, making it harder to complete. The missions' difficulties were based around the abilities of some of the strongest and smartest creatures in the Alterverse and created by the most skilled Spectre in all of Rakuen."

"Wow, sounds tempting," Perry chuckled.

"You're kidding me, right?" a voice said to their right. Both turned their heads to see a husky galloping over to them. In a matter of seconds, this husky transformed into a human boy, around seventeen years of age by the looks of him, with blond hair, fair skin, and ocean-blue eyes. The boy wore jeans and a red and white striped polo shirt. He looked down at Perry and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. "Well, well, well, a Korobu-chisai wanting to enter the Timeshift, eh?"

"Ah, Perry, this is Raskoe Skywalski," Epaisseur said rather flatly. "He's a well-known Karibrae."

"You're a star-person?" Perry smiled. "Cool."

"Yeah, I was Polaris," he shrugged absent-mindedly. "My brother, Daveed, is taking over that spot for me. He didn't get much of a long job when he stood still over a stable in Bethlehem. So, I figured he could be the North Star while I enjoyed my death in Rakuen."

"Er…" Perry muttered.

"By the way, Perry- that's your name, right?" Raskoe asked. Perry nodded. "Ah, yeah. Anyways, welcome to Rakuen- people around here, they're the death of the party, you know?"

"I…sure," Perry nodded.

"Thank you for that, Raskoe," Epaisseur said, floating past the Karibrae in a tense manner. "I was simply informing him about our greatest tradition. I didn't get the vibe that he was actually intending to attempt said competition."

"Dude, Epaisseur, he's not _that_ hard to read, man," Raskoe said, chuckling a little. He nudged Perry forward a little and grinned. "Look at the beaver, he's stark mad and thinking he can go through this thing."

"I'm a _platypus_," Perry said gruffly.

"Were!" Raskoe hooted, throwing his hands up in the air. Epaisseur and Perry shared a sigh then.

"Tell me, Perry Flynn, are you seriously considering to enter the Timeshift?" Epaisseur said, expecting Perry to instantly deny it.

"Well, the idea of a second chance at life, that's pretty appealing," Perry admitted. He shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I mean, my kids need me, and my mate, she needs me too. My death was…admittedly an accident, but also it was very sudden. Being able to go back to them, well, it would mean a lot to me, and to them."

"Whoa, dude, I told you!" Raskoe said, raising his voice a little. "Little dude's stark mad! Thinks he's got a chance!"

"Perry, there's one more thing you should know about the Timeshift," Epaisseur said darkly. He cast a glance at Raskoe. "The most common entrants to the Timeshift are Karibrae, like Raskoe. When they enter, they're unbeatable by only one another. There has _never_ been an instance where anything but a Karibrae has beaten a Karibrae."

"You can't say for sure that it's impossible, though!" Perry pointed out. "Just because no one's ever done it before doesn't mean that it's impossible. I need this chance, I really do."

"Don't let him do it, Epaisseur…" Raskoe shook his head.

"I think he deserves a fair chance," Epaisseur said slowly. "After all, the Timeshift is open to everyone. He deserves a chance even if we don't believe he can do it. Perry, follow me."

Epaisseur floated off in the direction of the Stade de Maux. Raskoe and Perry shared a blank expression before bolting after him. They weaved in and out of other Spectre, politely issuing an 'excuse me' every time they bumped someone or ran them over. By the time they caught up to Epaisseur, they were only about thirty feet away from the Stade de Maux. Perry looked up at it, his mouth hanging open a little. He heard a chuckle come from Raskoe.

"What?" Perry frowned.

"Everybody does that when they first see the Stade de Maux up close," he said gaily. The Karibrae turned and looked down at Perry. "I'm not a beaver expert, but don't you guys walk on four paws?"

"_Platypus_," Perry corrected. "And yes, platypuses, or platypi, typically walk on all fours. I'm different. Get over it."

"I never said I had a problem with it," Raskoe whistled.

"Would you two be quiet for a moment and allow me to talk to the Head of Game, please?" Epaisseur asked, giving them both a cold glance before turning back to someone in front of him. That Spectre poked his head around Epaisseur to look at Perry and Raskoe and shook his head, unamused. Once his attention turned back to Epaisseur, Raskoe and Perry instantly began to elbow one another.

"So, which one of you is Perry Flynn?" the Head of Game asked. He looked at them both, and the huffed. "Never mind, don't answer that question. I could recognize Raskoe Skywalski in any of his three forms…"

"You have three forms?" Perry narrowed his eyes at the Karibrae.

"All Karibrae have three forms, didn't they teach you this in school?" Raskoe said in a hushed voice. Perry shook his head. "Oh, right, you're a Korobu-chisai. Sorry, I keep forgetting!"

"Perry Flynn," the Head said firmly.

"Yes?" Perry swallowed. "That- that's me."

"You're going to be competing in the Timeshift?" the Head raised his brow a little. Perry nodded slowly. "Interesting. You've barely been in Rakuen as a legal citizen for a day and you're already wanting out?"

"I just want to be with my family," Perry said, hoping to seem less of a joke. The Head just laughed.

"If you insist," he chuckled. He filled out some papers quickly and handed them to Epaisseur. "Good luck. As you can probably guess, Epaisseur's in charge of you until the date of the next Timeshift. Your opponent is going to be a well-known Karibrae by the name of Garashand Pleiades. Now be off with you until I need you again!"

It was only a matter of minutes before Epaisseur whisked them away once again and they were sitting in a house of some sort. Both assumed that it was nothing less that Epaisseur's home, but neither wanted to voice their assumption to the elder Spectre.

"That…was easy?" Perry blinked.

"Yes, when you sign up it always seems too easy," Epaisseur hummed. He sat down next to the two and sighed. "Too quick, too simple, and all together to easy. They make it seem like it's going to be an easy time, but it never will be. They want to deceive you."

"Boy, do they," Raskoe shook his head dismissively. "I've been through the Timeshift seven times- I would know, trust me!"

"Seven times?!" Perry spluttered. "What kind of lives did you lead?"

"Very dangerous ones," Raskoe smiled. "I was something of a daredevil. My best stunt was going deep in the Mariana Trench on Earth and transforming into my star form. Nearly caused a disaster- but ended up dying instead. Apparently, you can't get stars wet…"

"Alright, that's enough of that!" Epaisseur growled. He stood back up and floated over to Perry. "There's something I need to let you do. It's a tradition that goes along with the Timeshift, and I'm certain that you'll appreciate it nonetheless. I need to send you to the land of the living to alert a person of your choice that you're going to be doing this. It will, in essence, keep them from burying your physical body so that when you, I mean, if you come back you're not going to die in your coffin a second time."

"Oh, that's…that's a good idea," Perry nodded slowly.

"Yeah, they only do that for people that actually use coffins," Raskoe said airily. He walked over to the wall and stared at it blankly. "Karibrae just turn into black holes or quasars and go on like that until they've got their body back."

"Quasars?" Perry mumbled.

"Anyways, Perry, I need you to come over here," Epaisseur said, beckoning him with one long, wispy finger. Perry hopped up and quickly made his way over to the Spectre. "I'm going to tell you how to do this once and only once."

"Okay," Perry said, holding his tongue between his teeth, unsure of what to say or do. Epaisseur held up a small bracelet that looked as if it would perfectly fit Perry's wrist. He unclasped it and slipped it around the platypus' arm gently.

"This is given to everyone in Rakuen, but not usually on their first day as an official citizen," Epaisseur said slowly. Perry nodded, letting him know that he understood. "We call these bijoux. That's French for jewelry, but never mind that. They are our only connection the land of the living. The living can enter through the gate on Main in France, but the dead must leave by supernatural means."

"Isn't everything in the Alterverse supernatural to mere mortals?" Perry sighed.

"Oh, bother Hej and supapawaology!" Epaisseur cried, shaking his head a little. "Science can barely explain what holds Rakuen together. Now listen carefully, Perry Flynn. All you need to do is be in contact with the bijoux and to think of with whom you wish to be with. You'll appear with the one you see in your mind. It will give you an hour to be with them, and then you must return to Rakuen for at least an hour before any secondary use. Was that clear?"

"Yes, yes it was," Perry told him. "Am I doing this now, or should I wait until later?"

"Do it now, and try not to freak anyone out," Epaisseur warned. "Seeing Spectre has always led to issues among the living. Now please, Perry, do it. For the sake of yourself and the ones you love so dearly."

"Alright," Perry said quietly. He didn't want to tell the Spectre that he was not only nervous to be performing an action he'd never done before but that he was also scared to think of what the reaction would be to his reappearance in the living world as nothing but a ghostly image of himself. Perry fiddled with the bijoux and thought hard about Xhirxhti. He thought about how much he wanted to be with her, to hold her, and to tell her that everything would be okay. After a little while, he could feel himself tingling. The sensation was similar to a foot that had fallen asleep, only he felt it everywhere. Epaisseur, Raskoe, and Epaisseur's home began to fade away. Blackness enveloped him, covering everything from his head to his toes. He couldn't even see himself it was so black. Perry shut his eyes tightly.

"I also remember the first time we kissed," a voice said behind him. The voice was familiar; in fact, it was the sweetest voice he'd ever heard in the world. "Or, rather, the first time I kissed you. You turned so red…I thought for sure you'd run off or pull your hat down, but you ended up fainting instead. I think, though, that it opened up your eyes. After all, you took me to be yours, and I took you to be mine. I'm forever glad that you did."

Perry turned around and opened his eyes quickly. He was back in Phineas' house, in the bedroom that had been his and Xhirxhti's for at least five years, if not more. (He couldn't remember exactly; he was dead, after all). The lights were off, the door was covering the threshold, but not on its hinges, and Xhirxhti was kneeling on a table of some sort. It took Perry only a matter of seconds to realize that it wasn't a table, but rather his own coffin, opened for her own purposes. She sat up straight.

"What do you want?" she said crossly. She turned her head towards the door; her eyes were shut tight. Perry said nothing. He didn't know what to say, though. When her eyes opened, he saw his own reflection in her brown irises. There he was, floating above the floor with a shocked expression on his face that somewhat matched her own. She instantly began to scream.

"Xhirx!" Perry said quickly, in a hushed voice. She stopped screaming, but she did leap up and back away from him.

"It's a dream, it's all a dream," Xhirxhti said in a panicked voice. She curled up in the corner of the room, between the bed and the wall, and started to murmur something about Sdixh to herself in Kyeaclae. Perry, still unused to his new form, awkwardly floated over to her and cautiously moved his finger to tap her shoulder. His finger went right through her. Her body appeared to tense up. "Whatever you are, you're deathly cold."

"Xhirx, it's me," Perry said softly. He tried to hide the disappointment he felt when he'd realized he couldn't touch the one thing he desired to hold close and comfort. She lifted her head and shakily looked at him. "I promise it's me, baby."

"You're…able to…visit?" she said quietly.

"Sort of," Perry shrugged. He went to offer her a hand to help her up, but again he felt the pang of hurt in realizing that he couldn't. She sat forward and reached one shaking hand up to his face. It went through his cheek. Xhirxhti gave a violent shudder and held her breath. "Sorry, I must be a horror to feel…"

"Why?" she whispered. "Why did you leave me here?"

"I didn't want to," Perry said, lowering his head a little. She tried to tilt his chin up a little, but couldn't; he lifted his head for her. "It's hard to fight yourself…when yourself wants you dead…"

"So it was true…" Xhirxhti said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Semi really did kill you…"

"Yeah," Perry nodded. She put one hand to her mouth and did her best to keep from sobbing. "Please don't cry, baby…"

"It hurts…to be apart from you," she said, nearly choking on the words.

"I might be able to fix that," Perry told her.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Doof**

**Yeah, I didn't forget 'ole Doofy :)**


	8. The Doof Side of It All

**Annnd I spelled 'apologize' wrong the other day. My bad. Here goes a short Doof chapter. -AJ **

* * *

Doof

It had been six whole weeks and Doof still couldn't get his mind around the fact that Perry the platypus was gone. No more quarreling with the guy that was his ex-nemesis and blood brother, no more looking at him and remembering the best moments in their frenemy relationship, and certainly no more reasons to shout…

"Curse you, Perry the platypus!"

"Uncle Doof, it's only _half_ his fault that I'm here," Dillon said with a chuckle. "You can go ahead and curse Mom, too."

"Was that out loud?" Doof said, groaning a little at the fact that Dillon had heard him bemoaning the absence of Perry. Dillon nodded with a smile. "You'd better not tell anybody…I don't want people thinking I've lost it or anything."

"Don't worry, Uncle Doof," Dillon said, baring his teeth in a fail attempt to smile. Doof rolled his eyes and walked towards the front door. Dillon playfully called after him. "Well, we all knew you'd lost it about five years ago!"

Doof did his best to ignore the kid. He opened the front door and was immediately run over by Phineas. The ever-optimistic man turned to look at Doof and gave him a huge grin. Whatever he'd been doing, he was a total mess now; his collared tee was muddy, the collar was flipped skywards, his hair was a complete disaster, and something white was smeared on his face.

"Oh, hey, Doctor D!" Phineas greeted him.

"Can I ask just _one_ question, kid?" Doof frowned.

"Yeah, sure, anything," Phineas nodded. "I've got nothing to hide."

"Then what is that white stuff on your face?" Doof raised his brow. He hoped that he wasn't going to regret what he'd just asked.

"Funny you should ask," Phineas laughed jovially. "It was weird. After my interview, Ferb and I went over to the local bakery and bought some celebratory cupcakes. They were out of napkins, so I got icing all over my face in a cupcake fight we had. Then, as we walked out of the door, there was a guy painting the front of the store white. Touch-up, I guess. Anyways, I tripped and landed face-first into his paint pan."

"Thank goodness…" Doof said under his breath. "Well, if anyone asks where I am, I'm going over to Vanessa's."

"Need a ride?" Phineas offered. Doof bit the edge of his bill and thought about it. It wasn't going to be the same as a ride to Vanessa's with Perry the platypus, but it was still a better option than walking all the way downtown. "The car's still got gas in it."

"Okay, but please get that crap off of your face, first," Doof grimaced. "It's weirding me out, even though I know full and well what it is."

"Sheesh, so worked up over white, gooey stuff," Phineas chuckled.

"Aw, come on, you just HAD to say it that way!" Doof said, throwing his hands into his face. "I feel broken inside…"

"What on Earth is going through his mind?" Phineas mumbled as he walked into the kitchen to clean up. Isabella ran downstairs and poked her head into the front hallway.

"I heard Phineas, was that Phineas?!" she said.

"When did you get home?" Doof asked.

"Seriously, do you even live here?" Isabella rolled her eyes. "Five o'clock, per usual. Now answer my question, was that Phineas?"

"Yes, it was Phineas!" Doof exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips. Phineas reemerged from the kitchen with a smile and made his way over to Isabella. They shared a rather lengthy kiss, Phineas explained that he had to take Doof over to Vanessa's real quick, and then he was scooting Doof out of the door.

"So, why so late?" Phineas raised one eyebrow as he sat Doof in the passenger seat.

"I have my own limbs, I think I can get into a car seat, Phineas," Doof grumbled.

"Hmm, Perry always liked for me to lift him up," Phineas sighed. "I sure do miss that platypus. He was the life of the party, if you know what I mean. Most of my best memories were-"

"Would you stop talking about Perry the platypus?!" Doof shouted. Phineas stepped back, made his way around the car, and silently slipped into the driver's seat. "Sorry, I just…how can you discuss him without…you know…getting all upset and feeling depressed?"

"Carpe diem," Phineas shrugged. "I know what it's like to struggle between two selves. Especially two selves that are different. Now, I may not have had a Semi invading my brain's personal space, but I know for sure that Perry would have never intentionally killed himself. He was too selfish to do that."

"I thought it was the other way around…" Doof blinked.

"What do you mean?" Phineas returned. He backed out of the driveway and started their journey downtown.

"Isn't is selfish to commit suicide?" Doof pointed out.

"In Perry's case, no…" Phineas shook his head. "He was too selfish to let anyone else enjoy Xhirxhti, so by keeping himself alive he wouldn't be forced to share her. It makes sense in the long run."

"No, no it doesn't," Doof said crossly. He pulled on his seatbelt and sighed.

"Aw, c'mon, Doctor D," Phineas said with a small smile. "We can't keep moping over things like we don't have anything to live for. You've got Vanessa and your abundance of nieces and nephews. I've got my three beautiful kids and a really hot wife. We've got to keep up the spirit, you know?"

"Was using the adjective hot _really_ necessary?" Doof frowned.

"Why, yes, yes it was," Phineas grinned. He waved his wedding ring in Doof's face. "Look, this is what I like to call a 'I have the full right to say whatever I want about Isabella' license."

"That was better than what I thought you were going to say," Doof sighed. He slumped over in the seat and stared out of the window with an expressionless look on his face.

"I _was_ going to say that it was the right to do whatever I want to Isabella, but I figured that didn't sound right," Phineas shrugged. "You know, it sounds like I'm trying to-"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay!" Doof exclaimed. He pressed his hands into his temples. "Just get me over to Vanessa's and everything will be just fine."

"Sheesh, it's not like I said anything bad," Phineas chuckled. Doof scowled and lowered himself into the seat. "You can rest assured that this ride will be clean."

_Yeah, right_, Doof thought to himself.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Jamie**

**We all needed a little Doof, c'mon, admit it. **


	9. A Painful Revelation

**And here's Jamie! -AJ **

* * *

Jamie

"Mommy, I don't think this is working."

Jamie gave Alysson a blank expression and blinked. Her daughter was right, though, in saying that there was no possible way to remove her dad's fingerprints from the knife with lemon juice. Clearly, the knife blade was cursed. Or lemon juice wasn't great for cleaning like she thought it was.

"What do you suggest, then?" Jamie asked her, putting her hands on her hips and waiting for her daughter to come up with a better idea. A smile spread across the child's bill. She held up a finger and skipped off.

Alysson Whitehead was Jamie's firstborn, or so she'd been told. The child had a twin brother, and Jamie hadn't been conscious when they'd come into the world. Her father was the no less than evil Muzukashii Mytax, Chaz Whitehead. This gave her a rather unique look; her mother's teal fur, a platypus' bill and tail, wolf-like ears, and webbed hind feet. She didn't know that Matthew wasn't her father, but, then again, she was still very young.

"This might work!" she chirped excitedly, skipping back into the room with a small box. "It's Gummy's old forensics kit. There's bound to be something in there to help remove fingerprints."

"Dad had a forensics kit?" Jamie blinked. She took the small box from her daughter and frowned.

"Well, he _was_ a spy," Alysson chuckled. She perked her ears up and waited for her mom to open the kit.

"Touché," Jamie sighed. She opened the box and set it down on the table. Half of the stuff inside didn't make a single bit of sense to Jamie. Both stared at it for a while before beginning to pull things out and fiddle with them. One such item was a bottle of vinegar. "You think this will do the trick?"

"Doesn't hurt to try," Alysson shrugged. "I do wish Gummy was here to tell us…"

"Well, he's not, and that's why we're doing this," Jamie told her firmly. She looked around the kit for a small brush or a cloth that she could use to apply the vinegar without getting her own fingerprints on the blade's handle. "We have to prove that he's innocent."

"Why does it matter so much, Mommy?" Alysson frowned.

"Because she wants to keep the honor of our father with him even after death," Zoe moaned, poking her head out of the bathroom. Jamie and Alysson both turned their heads to look at their rather sick relative. "What?"

"Why did you lie to Mom and Uncle Phineas, Zoe?" Jamie sighed, setting down the bottle and turning to look at her sister. Zoe stood up a little and came out of the bathroom a few inches. "What have you honestly got to hide?"

"I don't know," Zoe said, lowering her head. One of her hands shot down to her stomach. "I was scared."

"Scared of what?" Jamie said, almost laughing. She walked over to her sister and took her by the shoulders. Zoe looked up at her and did her best to smile. "Whatever is scaring you, you've got me to help you. Remember that, okay?"

"O-okay," Zoe nodded.

"Does anyone besides me actually know?" Jamie squinted. Zoe nodded and looked down again. "Alright, who?"

"Just my mate, Donovan," she said quietly. "I haven't had the nerve to tell anyone else. To be honest, it kind of scared me at first when I found out. Taking care of our younger siblings and your kids is one thing…having my own is a complete other thing."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jamie told her, bring her into a hug. Zoe returned it, releasing a breath as she did so. "You know I'm going to help you though this, just like you've helped me through everything I've dealt with."

"Thanks, Jamie," Zoe smiled lightly. The two separated from their embrace and looked at one another for a moment. Jamie then had to suppress a squeal of delight.

"Zoe, I can't believe this, I'm going to be an aunt!" she exclaimed, pulling Zoe back into a hug. She gave her sister a huge grin and let her back a little bit. "I can't help but ask, when can I expect my little niece or nephew to get here?"

"Around April," Zoe said with a shrug. "That's a rough guess, though."

"April…" Jamie breathed. She ran a hand down Zoe's stomach and sighed happily. "I wish Daddy was here; he'd be so happy to know that he'd have another grand-baby."

"Aunt Zoe's having a baby?!" Alysson asked, appearing suddenly between her mother and aunt with a smile on her face. "I"m having a little cousin?"

"Yes, yes you are," Zoe laughed nervously. She patted Alysson on the head and sat down at the dinner table. Jamie returned to the vinegar and ordered Alysson to find her a small cleaning brush or cloth. The giddy child gleefully skipped off to do so. "Say, Jamie, where's Lexi?"

"When I went to get Ally, Ashley and Norina offered to take care of her for a little bit," Jamie replied, leaning up against the counter. "They've got Aiden with them, too. He wasn't all too interested in removing fingerprints."

"And Ally was?" Zoe chuckled.

"Yeah, I've got a feeling that she takes after Dad in a lot of ways," Jamie sighed. She shifted a little bit and stared down at the bottle in her hands. "They're getting to an age, though, that might have them questioning their true father…"

"Nonsense," Zoe shook her head. "You've never given them any reason to believe that they weren't Matthew's kids, why would they question it now?"

"Because they don't share any of his distinct traits," Jamie frowned. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that Alysson wasn't close. "And they're starting to recognize that neither of their parents have wolf-like traits. It'll be hard-pressed to convince them that we're both their parents once they start catching onto that little bit."

"Maybe you won't have to deal with it until they're back from Invinci this year," Zoe suggested. "They leave in a few days. I doubt anyone there would point out to them that they look half-Muzukashii."

"Found a cloth!" Alysson said cheerily, hopping back into the room. She handed it to her mother and frowned. "Mommy, what's a Muzukashii."

"Oops…" Zoe murmured.

"They're just werewolves," Jamie said quickly. "Usually look like humans, but can turn into wolves sometimes. They aren't always very nice, since most of them work for Eclipse."

"Who looks half-Muzukashii, then?" Alysson blinked, looking at her mother and her aunt for answers. Jamie and Zoe both swallowed hard.

"Ally, I think it's time for you to go join your brother and sister, okay?" Jamie said firmly.

"But, Mommy, why can't I know?" Alysson complained, putting on her best puppy face. Her ears drooped down on the sides of her head. Zoe looked away and started to fiddle with some napkins on the table absent-mindedly. "What's the harm in telling me?"

"Alysson, there's a lot of harm in telling you!" Jamie said curtly. Her daughter jerked back a little at her mother's harsh tone. Biting her tongue a little, Jamie stooped down and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Look, sweetie, I'm sorry, but it's just something I can't afford to let you know."

"Why?" Alysson asked, her eyes big and the tip of her bill quivering. "Does- does it have to do with me?"

"Jamie…" Zoe said quietly. "I think you need to tell her."

"Zoe, I can't just…" Jamie said, searching her mind for an acceptable way to refute such an option. Nothing came to her. She knew this day would come, but she didn't expect it to have come so soon. It definitely made her wish she'd have been more careful with her conversation. "Alright, I'll tell you."

"Really?" Alysson said, her ears perking back up.

"Alysson, you and Aiden are half-Muzukashii," Jamie said slowly. Her daughter straightened up, not sure if she were offended by the admittance or not. "Matthew isn't your father…no, he's rather a horrid Muzukashii by the name of Chaz Whitehead. I didn't want you to have to know…I wanted you to feel as if you were wholly a part of this family…"

"B-but why?" Alysson blinked, seeming a little hurt at this. "Why hide it?"

"Partly for my shame," Jamie admitted. "Partly for Matthew, so he could feel as if he really was your father as he helped to raise you. And partly so that you never had to know about your jerk of a father…"

Alysson simply stared at her mother, bewildered by the information she'd just been told. Jamie couldn't blame her; it was a rather awful thing to tell her young daughter, but for how long had she expected to hide the truth from her baby girl? It was probably worse than lying in the child's opinion.

"Ally, I'm sorry," Jamie said, lowering her eyes. Alysson nodded and ran off, probably to find her brother and reveal to him the terrible news. Jamie stood back up and twirled the bottle of vinegar in her hands.

"You okay, Jame-ster?" Zoe asked her, walking over to her and giving her shoulder a light squeeze.

"I knew it would happen some day…" Jamie said quietly. "I just hope that this doesn't completely destroy things with my kids."

"What do you mean?" Zoe frowned.

"Well, what if Ally and Aiden take it the wrong way?" Jamie said, tears welling up in her eyes. "What if it completely destroys how they view me and Matthew? I don't want to lose their trust, they're my kids…my babies…"

"If there's anyone I know that can pull them together, it's bound to be Matthew," Zoe reassured her. "Your family is tight like ours is. Only, I've never seen you two fight or anything. Everything will turn out alright, I know it will."

"I hope, for their sake, you're right," Jamie said.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Ferb**

**For anyone who's been waiting for the twins to know they weren't Matthew's kids- there you have it.**


	10. The Daughter of Eclipse

**Turbo Ferb-o. I really don't know...I'm running out of comments... -AJ **

* * *

Ferb

Lyla hadn't spoken since they'd left Phineas' house. Ferb attributed this to both the shock and horror of Perry's untimely death and Xhirxhti's angry scene. He couldn't really fathom what his wife was feeling after seeing both of those things, but he knew it was unsettling for himself as well. Most anything Xhirxhti did in anger was particularly unnerving.

Ferb dropped Lyla off at home after that incident and headed to the Café Noir for a coffee. Phineas texted him to let him know that he no longer needed a ride home, as Isabella could pick him up now. So, Ferb stayed put at the Café Noir and sat down quietly at his table all alone.

By now, his coffee was slightly cold, but he could care less. Too many thing were running full steam through his mind at the moment. Lyla's quiet behavior as of late, Phineas' luck with getting this job, Xhirxhti's tension from the lack of Perry, and Perry's absence itself. Everything seemed to be happening at once.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Looking up from his drink, Ferb saw a tall, very pale girl with blond hair and violet eyes looking down on him. She wore a purple jacket, dark blue jeans, and black Converse high-tops. He looked around the café and saw that there were no other available seats. When had it gotten so packed in here? Motioning to the seat, he nodded quickly.

"Thanks," she breathed. She sat down and set her own coffee down on the table. "I'm terribly sorry for intruding, it's just…so crowded."

"I understand," Ferb said, taking a sip of his drink. The color of his eyes reminded him of Vampri. They were the only creatures he knew of that had naturally violet eyes. Still, contacts could be colored like that, too. Assumptions weren't worth his time.

"A lot seems to be on your mind," she said quietly. "Are you sure you don't need to be alone?"

"I'm sure," Ferb said. He frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Your thoughts gave you away, Eiyu-tachi," she chuckled. Ferb raised his eyebrows. "No, I'm not a telepath. But I can read strong thoughts."

"That's a Vampri trait," Ferb pointed out.

"Ah, that it is," she nodded. "But I'm not like the Higher Vampri. I'm a-"

"Lesser Vampri," Ferb filled in for her. "And not all Lesser Vampri have that gift. Take my 'niece' for example. She can't read thoughts."

"Your 'niece'?" she frowned.

"Yes, I'm considered the uncle of the infamous Jamie Flynn, if you've heard of her," Ferb said. He took another sip of his coffee and held the liquid in his mouth for a moment while he thought. The girl nodded vigorously, seeming to understand what he was saying. "Yes, Perry Flynn was my honorary brother. It took me his death to realize that…"

"The things tragedy brings about in our minds," she hummed. "It took my own mother rejecting me to finally realize that she never did love me. I never did take the time to introduce myself- I'm Janelle."

"Janelle?!" Ferb said, almost choking on his own saliva. "The sole daughter of Eclipse?"

"Yes, that's me," she laughed. "But who are you?"

"Ferb Fletcher," he told her. Janelle nodded and blew on her coffee. "Registered P.T.B.A. member and stepbrother to a Mytax. You might know him; the Pyrophineac."

"Ah, yes," Janelle said. "His family has been well-known for indentured servitude to Eclipse. He's the first to have resisted her and been forced to serve her as a means of protection to his family. He never mentioned having a stepbrother, though. Just a brother."

"Phineas never did see me as less than a blood family member," Ferb said, smiling as he did so. "He always called me 'bro.' Never stepbrother. Never just Ferb. It was always 'bro.' I hate that he ended up working for Eclipse, though."

"It is sad," Janelle said, frowning. "Was he always that melancholy?"

"Oh, no!" Ferb shook his head. He wiggled his fingers around his coffee cup and had to stop himself from laughing at the idea that Phineas was always a solemn character. "No, growing up he was always the most optimistic, carefree person I ever knew. He's getting that back, now that he's able to spend more time with his family, but Perry's death sure isn't helping him."

"Was he close to Perry Flynn?" Janelle asked. "If that's not too much to ask."

"He was Perry's closest friend," Ferb said quietly. "Phineas and Perry knew each other before I entered the scene. Perry was introduced to Phineas as a pet; he was a gift right after Phineas' father was killed by the Mytax. Perry was an orphan, Phineas had lost his father; they connected like that to comfort one another, I guess. I have always been jealous of their bond, though I regret that jealousy now that Perry's passed on."

Both sat in silence for a while, sipping at their coffee and reminiscing in the lack of conversation. Whatever might be going through Janelle's head, Ferb certainly hoped that it wasn't the entertainment of the idea to drink his blood. He'd had Jamie admit to him way too many times that she felt inclined to drink his blood. One look at Janelle told him that she knew what was going through his head.

"Do you feel unnerved by my presence?" she asked softly.

"Slightly," Ferb admitted. "But that is only because my niece has the habit of intentionally raising my awareness of the thirst for blood."

"Ah, does she now?" Janelle giggled.

"Yes, Jamie will look you straight in the eyes, half-close her own, and tell you in a very soft voice that your blood smells rather inviting," Ferb said, cracking a smile. "I always think of Frodo, in The Two Towers, when he mentions the Nazgul being in Osgiliath."

"Interesting comparison," Janelle said, laughing and shaking her head.

"I know," Ferb sighed. "But that's what I see."

"You know, I've heard many a story about Jamie Flynn," she said softly. "About how she's nearly died on so many occasions, but her father saves her life every time. Is that how it really goes?"

"Pretty much," Ferb nodded.

"How strange," Janelle hummed. "A Korobu-chisai saving the life of a Lesser Vampri. It's hard to wrap my mind around. For someone with such little significance to the Alterverse, Perry Flynn sure had a huge impact on it."

"Little significance?" Ferb frowned. "Being a Korobu-chisai doesn't make someone have little significance."

"It does to the ones who assume that they're better than everyone else," Janelle said with a sigh. She crossed one leg over her other knee and rested her elbows on the table. "Many would assume that Mortals, Korobu-chisai, Korobu-okii- they don't deserve a shot at being anything in the universe. They're powerless next to many. But, Perry, he was something different."

"He was different, all right," Ferb said, raising his eyebrows and remembering all of the strange things he'd seen Perry do. Dancing was the first to come to mind. A sick sense of humor was the second.

"Truly, he was unlike any mortal being I've ever come across," Janelle said with a smile. "His dreams, his personality, his ability to stay alive- none of it made sense for a Korobu-chisai."

"Few of us know that Xhirxhti, his mate, was the one keeping him alive," Ferb said, swirling the last little bit of his coffee around in the base of his cup. "She shared much of her longevity with him and healed him frequently."

"How did you know?" Janelle asked. "I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

"Not at all," Ferb said, waving his hand. "Xhirxhti told me after she'd had a rather unfortunate visit with her mother. In a nutshell, Arven told Xhirxhti that Perry's death was inevitable. Then, she banished her from Amoyx for the rest of her immortal life. She told me in hopes that someone else would be able to know the secret, but she never explained why she'd told _me_. Perry didn't even know."

"He didn't?" Janelle said, her eyes opening wider.

"Nope," Ferb shook his head.

"How could he not know that she was manipulating his body?" Janelle frowned. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I've often wondered the same thing," Ferb said, setting his cup down. He stared into the bottom and told himself that he really should finish the coffee. It was already cold as it was. "Then again, there's a lot of things I've wondered about Perry. Some of those questions were answered, and others weren't. Like, how he could speak clear English. I haven't the slightest clue how that came to be."

"His Kyea mate, perhaps?" Janelle offered, laughing a little. Ferb joined her laughter for a little. "I wish I could have met him. Like, really known him. I've _seen_ him before, but usually as Semi and never where I could talk to him as Perry."

"I would like to say you'd have enjoyed knowing him," Ferb said, smiling. "Then again, I know that you would have most likely been rather confused about him, just like everyone else was. But I do suppose a trained secret agent _would_ be mysterious and confusing."

"Touché," Janelle sighed.

"Well," Ferb said, swallowing down his last bit of coffee and standing up. "I hate to be off like this, but my wife's at home probably needing a little comfort. She was a workmate of Perry's; she just found out about his fate today, I'm afraid."

"I give you all my condolences," Janelle said, standing as well. "Especially to his kids and mate. And do let the Pyrophineac know that if he's in need of resistance pointers with my mom- I'm always willing to share them."

"Will do," Ferb nodded. They shook hands and parted. Ferb got into his car and headed home, feeling much better than before. Janelle; he hoped she'd show again.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Phineas**

**Remember Janelle- she's important:)**


	11. Ferb, I Gotta Know

**More of me describing brushing teeth...I gotta find a new thing to describe. -AJ **

* * *

Phineas shut the door to his bedroom and glanced over at his bed. Isabella was curled up asleep with her arms wrapped around her pillow. A smile spread across Phineas' face as he watched her sleep. He crossed the room and entered his bathroom. Grabbing his toothbrush, he put some water on it, squeezed some toothpaste onto it, and started to brush his teeth slowly. It gave him time to reflect on things.

Ferb's wedding had been spectacular, although it had been hard to put on the front that he was happy and joyful with the recent events. He'd hated not having told Ferb sooner about Perry's death, but how could he spring the news at his own brother's wedding? It was supposed to be a wonderful occasion, not a place to dwell on the sadness of death.

He continued to run the bristles of the toothbrush over his teeth, listening only partially to the swishing sound it made. The foam started to build up in his mouth and seep over the edges of his lips. At that point, Phineas wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing.

Lately, he'd been trying his hardest to recover from living solitarily in the mountains of Nepal. It was a difficult change to make, going back to the busy family dynamic that existed here in Danville. That, and Phineas still had to keep his eyes out for signs that he was back on Eclipse's radar. Mytax didn't just go missing out of the blue- he had a pretty good idea that he'd never actually been off of her radar.

The very thought of Eclipse caused Phineas to involuntarily raise his temperature. It wasn't until the melted plastic on his toothbrush started to drip over his fingers that he even realized he was doing it. Sighing, he told himself to cool down and ran some cold water over the disfigured handle. Having fire Hej certainly had its perks to it. Phineas looked up into the mirror at himself and frowned.

His eyes met their own reflection and stood still for a moment. The two royal blue irises were still riddled with slight pain from his experiences in Malam and Nepal, but he could see his old adventurous self trying to break out. What he needed most was a diversion of sorts. He needed to be reminded what his own name once stood for.

Wiping his face off, Phineas left the bathroom, slipped silently through his bedroom, and headed for the kitchen. Yes, he knew he'd just left it; Xhirxhti and Jamie weren't there anymore, though, and he needed to use the telephone. He snatched the phone off of its dock and quickly dialed a number he'd known ever since he'd turned eighteen. Pressing the phone to his ear, he waited as each ring filled up his ear with impatience.

"Come on…pick up….pick up…" Phineas murmured. The receiver clicked. He held his breath a little. A sigh came through the phone.

"It's late, Phineas."

"Ferb! You're up!" Phineas said, smiling to himself. "I was starting to think that you'd fallen asleep already."

"I was about to," Ferb replied.

"Oh," Phineas blinked, not wanting to give away his embarrassment.

"What do you need?" Ferb sighed.

"Well, Ferb, this is probably going to be the weirdest thing I've ever had to wake you up at one in the morning for, but-"

"Please," Ferb interrupted. "You called to ask me a few things about Jamie when she was in labor. That's pretty weird."

"That was a totally different type of weird, no one's in labor or anything," Phineas shook his head and grabbed the bridge of his nose. He sighed. "Ferb, I need us to…retrogress, in a sense."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Not retrogress, that's the wrong word!" Phineas said, nearly slapping himself in the forehead. "I mean, we need to do what we did as kids. It's probably the craziest thing to say in the world, but Ferb- I really need to know what we're gonna do today."

"Like…you want to build something?" Ferb asked, clearly thrown off.

"Yes!" Phineas nodded, forgetting Ferb couldn't see him. "Yes, yes! We need something to build. We haven't built anything in a long time, bro. In fact- we need to call up Baljeet and Buford and get them in on this, too!"

"Phineas, what have you been up doing?" Ferb said quietly.

"Nothing!" Phineas said, his voice stressed. "I just really need to know what we're gonna do tomorrow! Build a rocket? Surf tidal waves? Nanobots? Sing with penguins on Broadway?"

"Okay…" Ferb said, slightly convinced. "Assuming you're not drunk, I'll pull out some of our old blueprints. I'm sure there's some we never covered. I've got a few upstairs in the attic that I'll get in the morning."

"No, no, we need to decide now," Phineas pressured. Ferb sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, bro, I'm just having a bit of a mental breakdown right now."

"You think?" Ferb chuckled.

"Can you please just help me decide now?" Phineas pleaded. "It would make me feel so much better."

"Here's what you can do," Ferb said. "You hang up this phone, call up Buford and Baljeet and tell them to meet at my house tomorrow morning at eight o'clock on the dot. When you're done, I'll have something for us to do. Okay?"

"Okay," Phineas sighed. He slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs and ran his fingers through his hair. "Talk to you in a little bit, bro."

"Alright," Ferb chuckled. "Bye, Phineas."

"Bye, Ferb," Phineas said. He ended the call and instantly dialed Buford's number. He waited for him to pick up, kicking his feet in the air for a few seconds in anxiety. The gruff response was almost instant.

"Who the heck's calling at this time in the morning?!" Buford shouted into the speaker. Phineas held the phone away from his ear a little. "BUFORD DOESN'T LIKE BEING WOKEN UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!"

"Buford, relax, it's me!" Phineas said, stifling a laugh.

"Why are you up this early, dinner bell?" Buford grumbled. "My alarm clock hasn't even gone off yet. Now my waking up reputation is screwed up because I woke up before the alarm went off. How do I explain that one to my mom?"

"You don't have to," Phineas pointed out. "You're an adult. And…I have a favor that I need of you."

"At one in the morning?" Buford groaned. "You need me to do something for you at one in the morning?!"

"Well…no," Phineas rolled his eyes. "I need you to meet me and Ferb at Ferb's house at eight. Okay?"

"Whatever," Buford sighed. "I'll see you then, dinner bell."

"Alright," Phineas said, but the receiver clicked and Buford was gone. Raising his eyebrows, Phineas mouthed 'okay' before struggling to remember Baljeet's number. It only took him a few seconds o dial it, and then he was again left to wait anxiously for his friend to answer. Baljeet took longer than Buford to answer the phone, but he still managed to answer.

"Hello?" came the sleepy greeting. "Tjinder residence."

"Baljeet, buddy, it's Phineas," he smiled, glad to hear the man's voice again. Baljeet had been the one to convince Phineas to return home. He'd never appreciated anyone more for anything. "I'm sorry to bother you at, like, one in the morning, but I kinda need a favor."

"If you are having complications with readjustment, feel free to drive over here and vent," Baljeet said, yawning a little. "It would be easier for me to stay awake face to face than on the phone."

"If you can stay with me for just a second, it's not venting I need," Phineas said as quickly as he could. "I'd really appreciate it if you'd meet me at Ferb's house at eight. Could you- could you do that for me?"

"I suppose," Baljeet said, stifling another yawn. "Can I go back to sleep, now?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Phineas nodded. He hit himself in the forehead and made a mental note to stop making nonverbal responses to everyone's comments over the phone. "You may return to your bed and sleep in peace. Just be careful not to wake up Mishti or Ginger."

"Mishti?" Baljeet questioned. "She was only here for a short while. She is back in India, now."

"Oh," Phineas remarked. "I'm still keeping you up."

"Night, Phineas."

"Night, 'jeet."

Phineas pressed the red button to end his call and quickly called Ferb back. The more he thought about what he'd be doing at eight in the morning today, the more excitement ran through his mind. Ferb was taking too long to pick up in his mind. He stood up and started to pace back and forth. Thirty seconds passed. A minute. A minute thirty.

"That was fast…" Ferb panted through the speaker.

"Neither of them was up for talking at this time in the morning," Phineas sighed. He slumped back down into the chair and drummed his fingers on his forehead. "So, did you get the blueprints down, yet?"

"I've got some," Ferb chuckled. "Would you like me to read them aloud to you, or would you like to come over and look over them yourself?"

"Can I?!" Phineas exclaimed. "Oh, bro, you're the best ever! I'll go get Isabella and ask Xhirxhti to watch the kids! See you in a little while!"

Ferb didn't even have time to say good-bye as Phineas threw the phone down, promptly woke up Isabella and told her to get dressed, and rushed to find some decent clothes of his own. He ran upstairs, hoping Xhirxhti wasn't in a sour mood. Pushing open the door, Phineas peered in and saw something totally unusual.

* * *

**Next Chapter is...Xhirxthi**

**I just realized...a day has not yet passed in this story's timeline. **


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